


Pirate King Luffy goes to Earth

by FriendlyFrat_Boy



Category: One Piece
Genre: Adult Luffy, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Real World, Dimension Travel, Everybody's dead but here on Earth they're not, Gen, Pirate King Luffy, Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, shit gets fucked up, so Luffy can be friends with his old friends :)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25924936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyFrat_Boy/pseuds/FriendlyFrat_Boy
Summary: Everybody's dead. Years have passed since Luffy earned the crown and became not only Pirate King, but also the strongest man in the world. Even so, he isn't happy. Living life in a little dingy, he can't help but miss his nakama.That is, until one day, he and his little boat gets sucked into a storm and ends up on Earth, where he crashes head-first into a porch. Ace's porch, that is.So, I wrote the first chapter about two years ago, never intended for anyone to see it, and finally put it on fanfiction.new because, well, why not? It got some traction and so I continued it. In other words, the first chapter is quite clunky, but it gets better in the later ones, since there's a year or two between them.Enjoy! And do comment!
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27





	1. An extra-long first chapter

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be posting the next chapters I've got on fanfiction during the next few days, stay tuned!

His life had never been boring before, not in this way. It's not that he wasn't content with the life he had led, or that he regretted any decisions apart from the obvious, but somehow, becoming the undisputed Pirate King was kind of lonely without his friends. Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook… it felt empty without them. Of course, he had fun, to be sure, nobody could deny the request of a King, especially not one who just wanted to party and eat. He had already sailed around the world thrice, not in the Sunny, mind you, that old friend had retired long since, but in a small, one-person boat with a little sail and his all-too-familiar jolly roger.

So it was that one day, passively sailing the seas, only barely keeping an eye on the sky, Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy noticed a storm coming on. No, he had not picked up any innate sense of storm, nor had he learnt anything from Nami, all he could register was the fact that the sky was darkening, and it didn't look too good. Luffy, however, no longer feared storms. With a confident smirk, he stood, rising to his full height of 185 centimetres, his red and gold robe fluttering idly on his shoulders, much like a certain breed of marine. He looked rather scruffy, to be honest. His features, previously far more rounded, were now more square, resembling Shanks or Garp, both very fitting people to resemble since they were his metaphorical/adoptive father and grandfather. His body was more muscular and less lean, but his most prominent features were the additions of various new scars all scattered throughout his body. His right eye, previously pretty alright, now had a slash cutting through it, though the eye remained undisturbed. His iconic X-scar now had a thinner, yet deeper cut running vertically through it. Other than these large scars, his body was also covered with various smaller cuts, grazes and burns, all mostly healed by now, causing him no actual pain. He was fine, physically speaking. Mentally? Well, he was mostly fine. He had defeated his enemies, forgiven those who were worthy of being forgiven, grieved those who had fallen and reconnected with lost allies. In short, during these long, lonely years, he had matured and grown. He was no longer a little kid, roaming the seas with a dream and a will, he was a man.

So it was that he stood there, rubbing his stubbled chin, smirking confidently and staring up into the eye of the storm right above him. Had Nami been here, she would have found the coincidence of a storm forming straight above them to be interesting, but she wasn't, so Luffy simply stared at the ominously swivelling purple-blackish clouds with mild amusement. Every now and then, a white flash of lightning would shine up the sky, bolt of lightning shooting through the upper regions of the eye at speeds nearing the speed of light. Luffy didn't fear these bolts of lightning either, as they posed no actual threat to him, being more dangerous to his boat than him. Mumbling a bit to himself, Luffy removed his beloved flag from the mast of his small one-man boat, folding it carefully. He didn't like taking it down for any reason, but if the lightning hit his mast, the flag would burst into flame. And since this was the very flag that Usopp himself had painted, Luffy really didn't want it to become a pile of ash. Similarly, he removed his straw hat from the top of his head and let it dangle on his neck as usual. That hat was the only thing he had with almost as many scars as himself.

And this was good too, because the moment he did, lightning struck him, briefly turning his world into a world of pure light. This lasted less than a second though, and once it was over, Luffy was left standing, seemingly entirely uncaring. Yawning, he absentmindedly realized that he hadn't slept in at least two hours, which was a real shame. He could rival Zoro in naps now, which was only because he didn't have anything better to do. No Usopp to tell him stories, no Franky to show him cool machines, no nobody. Sighing, Luffy let all thoughts of his friends go, and allowed the calming darkness of sleep, so much like death, take a hold of him.

The storm was really picking up, Ace noted as he peeked outside the window of his suburban home. Rain poured down, and flashes of lightning lit up parts of the sky periodically. It was mid-day, and yet the sky was as black as night, deep clouds roiling over each other like a black sea in the sky. There had been nothing about this in the forecast, Ace grumbled as he turned on the television to check the news. Nothing. Not even a report. Well, this horrible weather had started only a couple of minutes ago, so that wasn't surprising in any means. And, considering that it only started minutes ago, the sheer animosity of this overhanging couple 'o clouds was intimidating, to say the least. Should he head out and try to put up some shutters or something? No, this isn't Florida, he hasn't got anything of the like, the freckled man grumbled, wishing for the umpteenth time that he had just listened to Marco and been prepared for anything like he is. He's such a good example.

Thunder roared above him and a flash of lightning lit up the entire sky, suddenly making his living room as bright as day. The second this happened though, a "zzz" resounded through his house as it descended into darkness. Ace was no newbie when it came to power outages, but this didn't feel quite… right? It sounded like bolts were raining down on his roof, which was actually a pretty calming noise. If he wasn't a rational adult man, he would be making hot cocoa and grabbing a nice book to read. Now he was just worried about property damage. When did he become so boring?

However, just as his thoughts raced and wandered regarding the possible damage that this sudden monstrous storm could cause, it kinda… cleared up? Smooth and calm light flowed into the house, and when Ace looked outside, he could see the bright white sun, framed by the blue blue sky. But all around this one patch of bright baby-blue sky, there was the great swivelling of clouds, like sharks prowling around a bleeding prey. He was in the eye of the storm. The winds had calmed down, the rain had entirely ceased, and the rumble of lightnings-to-be was distant and muted. For a moment, Ace allowed his frayed nerves to calm down, taking in the beauty and the relief.

This was interrupted when he suddenly noticed something. From the very core of the eye of the storm, right beneath the shimmering sun, something was… well, there. Like a little dot of something. Ace had no idea what it was, but it didn't look very natural. But whatever it was, it was gradually growing bigger. Or… nearer?... Ace squinted his eyes at the shape. It almost looked like a… person?

The moment this thought hit him, Ace's mind was frozen stiff in terror. Somebody was falling from the sky, and fast. Somehow, he had been up in the air when all this happened, and now he was falling, most likely to his doom. Ace didn't know how to respond. Hell, even if he DID know the proper reaction to a man falling from the sky, he doubted there actually was anything he could do.

The figure grew ever closer, and soon Ace could even make out the fact that he wasn't quite alone - something else was falling along with him. It seemed to be just a little bit bigger than the man, who wasn't reacting too much to any of this, mind you, and was oddly enough shaped like a boat of some sort. Ace highly doubted this though, so he assumed it was some sort of craft the man had been using to be in the sky. Or maybe he was flung up into the air by a nearby tornado, along with his boat? Whatever the situation, Ace knew it wouldn't turn out well.

As the figure grew larger and nearer, Ace became acutely aware of one thing: it was heading straight for him. If it had been going anywhere else, it wouldn't have been just growing in size, so…

Within only seconds of that thought, Ace heard a great crash, his whole house shuttering under the impact. Cursing under his breath Ace quickly ran towards the source of the crash, which, luckily, hadn't been IN his house, but instead just outside his front door. Ace shot out his hand to twist the handle and open the door when he realized just what he would be seeing. He simply stood there for a couple of seconds, hand frozen just by the handle, eyebrows furrowed and gaze stern. His thoughts were racing but he tried to push them out. He might have survived. And if he did, he had to get him help as soon as possible.

Ace swallowed and sighed deeply, finally gripping the handle and twisting it. The door slid open without a hitch, revealing what looked like a smashed up boat of some sort, and… a man. With his head stuck in the porch. Otherwise looking pretty much alright. If anything, it wasn't the man's head that had split open, but instead the cement porch of Ace's house. Stunned, Ace could not help but stand there, his jaw hanging loosely and his eyes wide. He simply did not know how to respond.

He was brought out of this shock, a shock he had experienced at least three times just this past hour, by a strange, growling kind of sound. It sounded like a pig being strangled in a cave, and looking down at the man, Ace realized both what the source and the sound was. The man was snoring. Ace had never before felt like hitting somebody as much as he wanted to hit this man. But he kept his cool and decided against hitting random strangers falling from the sky. On that note, since he was, in fact, quite alive, Ace should probably, well… help him. The eye of the storm was already passing by, so just leaving this man here, a man who probably had a concussion or worse, would be, so to speak, unethical.

Sighing audibly, Ace walked closer to the man, trying to at least somewhat keep his distance. He didn't trust this man, but… he didn't have much of a choice. Finally facing the man's back, Ace took a few steps closer, hesitantly grabbing the man by the shoulders. This was when he realized that not only was the man wearing a weird yet luxurious-looking red and gold coat, he was absolutely drenched. Ace almost couldn't grab onto him, but once he did, he found the prospect of removing him from his porch would be a bit harder than expected. But Ace was no kid, and he hadn't grown up in any good part of town either, so being physically strong was a given. Pulling with all his might, he finally felt something give way and the man popped out of the ground, slumping over on his side.

He was around 30 years old, with a small stubble and black, scruffy hair. His mouth was curled into a grin even as he snored, and Ace could hear him mumbling something about someone called "Sanji" bringing him meat, which seemed like a very strange dream. To be so happy about. However, even more noticeable than his physical features would be the various scars on his face. He had one scar underneath his left eye with clear, prominent stitches, which looked quite old, and another, much more recent over his right eye. Ace couldn't tell if the eye itself was alright, but for the sake of consistency, he hoped so. Of course, the man's face was covered in a lot of dust and dirt, but other than that, he looked perfectly alright, the only injuries being the scars, which didn't look recent enough.

But Ace didn't have time to idly waste time, hurridly heaving the large man upon his back and quickly moving inside, his bright eyes easily noticing the oncoming darkness of the storm. He closed the door behind him, utilizing as much of his flexibility as he possibly could, and walked back into the living room. Ace hurriedly dumped the man on one of his couches, breathing a sigh of relief. His body wasn't what it once had been. With the man laying on his back on the couch, Ace finally got a good look at the man. He was wearing a pair of torn, knee-long blue shorts that had a few cuts and a couple of red splotches he hoped was cranberry juice, as well as a pair of sandals. His upper body was mostly covered with some sort of cape draped around his shoulders, but since they actually had sleeves, Ace decided that it was, in fact, a coat. A very fancy coat. He wore a white cardigan underneath, which strangely enough wasn't damaged or soiled in the least. The fabric seemed very soft, but it was entirely open, revealing his very muscular chest, along with an incredibly noticeable scar. Or two, if you had to be exact. Three? Ace wasn't sure how or when any of them had happened, so he couldn't say. The most noticeable scar(s?) was a large X looking scar, rough and coarse and deep. It looked like somebody had carved through his flesh with a burning hot spoon, a thought that made Ace wince. There was also another scar running over the X, which seemed to somehow be even deeper than the other one.

All and all, the man was covered in countless scars, some unnoticeable, some prominent, but all of them looking like a bastard to have to take. He looked like some sort of veteran, but his leisurely smile made that assumption sour a bit. Whoever he was, he was snoring quite loudly. Ace suddenly realized that if Marco knew he had carried an unconscious man who had fallen from the sky inside and NOT given him any sort of first aid, he'd kill him, and therefore, Ace decided to at least bandage his head. He didn't like letting the sleeping man out of his sight, but the first aid kit was in the bathroom, and he'd just be gone for a second, so it'd be fine, right?

It wasn't.

The second Ace returned, bandages and scissors in hand, he immediately noticed the man standing in the middle of the room, looking confused and somewhat weary, yet somehow confident, a combination of emotions that made Ace just a little bit confused and weary himself, confidence not included.

Luffy was thoroughly and utterly confused. Now, that's not to say that the state of being "completely confused" was foreign to him, it was actually rather often that he felt a little left out, especially when Nami or Robin were explaining the science of the weather or the history of some unexplored island, really, he just wasn't the right man to understand those sorts of things. And so, when he woke up after taking a nap in his boat only to find himself on a comfortable couch in a strange, empty room, it was only natural that his first instinct would be to stand up and look around. However, he had barely even been able to stand up from the couch properly before he could sense someone in the hall just outside the room, ready to enter.

Had Luffy not been the Pirate King, if he hadn't been absolutely certain of his being the strongest man alive, the one person the navy couldn't hope to capture, the single most wanted man on the planet, he might have been a bit scared of this mysterious person. Might have raised a fist or gone into a battle stance, ready to pounce on whatever person came through that open door. But he didn't. Instead, he just stood there, anxiously eyeing the entrance. It might be an admiral. It could be one of the emperors he single-handedly defeated hoping to get payback somehow. Sure, he couldn't be poisoned to death, but there were so many other possible scenarios, so many potential friends or enemies who could enter, so much so that Luffy couldn't help feel his brain start to overheat under the pressure.

But, whoever it was, Luffy could feel that he was somehow… familiar. Like a stuffed animal you had as a baby and suddenly found. Or eating your mother's home-cooked food for the first time since moving out, and suddenly realizing just how much you missed it. The presence was faint, weak, like a normal civilian, and yet strong-willed like a marine captain. Or a pirate. But he wasn't on a ship, that much he knew. The floor wasn't lulling to and fro gently, but was instead fast and stoic, which felt a little strange to Luffy, who had been sailing for around three months before the storm hit.

And suddenly he was forced out of his little thoughts as he saw the face peeking out of the hallways.

Before Ace could even comprehend what was happening, he was on the floor, the somewhat larger, older man already on top of him. Scared, confused and somewhat shocked, Ace stared up at the face above him. The man couldn't have weighed much more than himself, and yet, somehow, Ace could barely move his body due to the sheer pressure. And then he noticed the look on the man's face. Pain, sadness, and… relief? His mouth was twisted into a hesitant, almost unwilling smile, and tears were welling up in his large, brown eyes. Ace couldn't but furrow his brows. He wanted to shout something sarcastic, demand for the man to get off of him, but he couldn't. Not with those teary eyes gazing down into his. "H-, he-," Ace stammered but was quickly interrupted when the stranger brought him into his muscular arms, embracing him gently but firmly.

"Don't say anything," he heard the man tell him softly. Somehow, it was more of a request than a demand. The voice felt so… weak. Weak and hurt and there was something in that voice that made Ace think about all of the scars the man had. Scars like that didn't just stay on the surface. They cut deeper than the skin, and Ace could hear it somewhere in his voice. Ace could feel hot, wet tears run down his back as the man burrowed his face in his neck. "Hey-," Ace croaked, anxiously noticing how the arms grew tighter around him, too tight, really. "Hm?..." the man whimpered questioningly. Ace squirmed a little to show how uncomfortable, and somehow, the man seemed to understand, immediately letting Ace go and retreating into a sitting pose in front of him, looking somewhat meek where he sat formally on his knees.

Ace coughed a little, feeling his chest already start to ache. He was strong, that was for sure. Ace looked over with an irritated glint in his eyes, something that apparently made the man approximately ten years older than him jump at. Looking closer, Ace realized that the man had forced his lips shut, and considering the way his left eye twitched, he was definitively holding back some tears. "Men shouldn't cry," Ace commented off-hand, which the man nodded at in an exaggerated manner. Somehow, Ace could tell he wasn't trying to be exaggerated. "So, uh," Ace started, furrowing his brows and frowning at the stranger. "Who are you?"

Luffy felt as if somebody had stabbed his heart with an icicle. No, this can't be possible. It was Ace alright. He could tell that face anywhere, even if he did look younger than Luffy remembered, and haki didn't lie. So why didn't Ace know who he was?... "Ace?..." Luffy asked meekly, shooting up one eyebrow in uncertain disbelief. Ace, who had just sat himself up after Luffy unconsciously pounced on him, jerked at Luffy's rhetorical question, before letting his face fall into a scowl. "How do you know my name?" Ace asked, his body instantly tensing up. Luffy was good at observing, haki or not, and he could easily see that Ace was ready to attack at any time. The slightest move from Luffy could send him into a fiery, blazing berserk, and since Luffy happened to think the world was nicer when it wasn't on fire, he decided not to take any chances. "It's me!" Luffy stated pleadingly, "Luffy!"

Ace furrowed his brows. "I don't know any "Luffy," he said standoffishly. Luffy could feel his jaw drop. Didn't Ace know his own brother?... "Did you hit your head?..." Luffy asked with genuine curiosity. He really couldn't recall any other reason his very own brother couldn't remember. Ace, however, seemed sort of offended at his question and spat out a "No!" before Luffy could ask any follow-up questions. This shut Luffy up for a second. Cupping his chin in his hand, he spent this second in ponder, thinking hard about the situation.

"Did you hit your head in the war?..." Luffy asked carefully. However, whether this carefulness was for the sake of Ace or himself, nobody will know. "The what?... look, buddy, I don't care which institution you came from, but how'd you learn my name? Did you stage your crash on my porch or something?" Ace asked, giving Luffy a glimpse of just how many questions he had, and this was barely the tip of the iceberg. Luffy picked at his boogers. "I crashed on your what now?" Luffy asked with a blank look on his face. "My porch! It's all smashed up! How do you suppose I'll explain that to my insurance company!?" Ace scolded, frowning heavily at the older, yet somehow dumber man.

Luffy really didn't know what a "Porshe" or an "insurance" was, but if Ace was shouting about it, it must be very important. "Whoever did that, I'll beat them up for you," Luffy stated with a stern look on his face, actually looking serious for the first time in as long as Ace had known him, which wasn't very long, according to him.

Ace really couldn't handle this man. Luffy, was it? Whatever. First, he had been attacked out of the blue, and now he was insisting on beating up… himself? The insurance company?... Ace didn't know if he wanted to know. He probably didn't. But the man looked strong, and if his first reaction to any sort of threat or bad situation was to beat up somebody, he couldn't have lived a very good life. Or, he was very dumb. Probably a combination of the two. But just as Ace was about to protest the possible beating, the man, Luffy, seemed to have an epiphany of sorts, his face lighting up into a whole-hearted smile has he hit his fist on his open palm.

"I know! It's been a while, so I'm sure you just don't recognize me! Shanks did say I had changed over the years, shishishishi!" the man said, laughing a strange little laughter. Ace didn't know who Shanks was(father, maybe?) but the man spoke of him fondly, so he couldn't be a bad guy, at least. "No, I'm telling you, I don't know ANYBODY by the name of Luffy-," Ace said, but his words fell on deaf ears as the man started rummaging around his outfit, only to realize the coat was way over on the couch. Ace couldn't even blink before the coat was in the man's hands. Hm? Hm. Must have been a trick of the light, yup.

The man fumbled about the pockets, eventually removing a rolled-up piece of yellowish, old looking paper. "As I've come to learn, some people tend to forget how you used to look after a while, so I grabbed my first wanted poster from the hands of an old friend for occasions just like this, shishishi!" the man laughed, unrolling the piece of paper. It really was a wanted poster. There was a picture of a young man, about 17 or 18 by the looks of him, his left hand on the camera and a stupid grin on his face, oddly mirroring the man holding up said poster. Above the picture was a headline of "WANTED: dead or alive" and below it was a name, "Monkey D. Luffy", which ACe presumed was the man's name, and a strange symbol that was probably supposed to be some form of currency, along with a number of "30 000 000". There were some other text and a weird logo, but Ace couldn't really make it out.

Now, Ace couldn't honestly say he recognized the kid in the least, but the idea of poster-Luffy being the younger version of veteran-Luffy felt right, so he accepted that. What he didn't accept, however, was the idea that this was in any way a real poster. Of course, it wasn't. That strange B didn't represent any currency Ace knew of, and even if it was a real currency, Ace couldn't imagine a little kid like this to have a bounty of, well, anything. Ace couldn't remain too quiet for too long, however, since this man was probably exerting himself just by sitting still and silent to allow Ace to look at the poster. "...How much is 30 000 000 of these, uh, Bs?" Ace asked, trying very hard not to ask him at which amusement park he got it made. Looking up, he noticed Luffy was giving him a very strange look as if to say "it's worse than I thought…" but, as the numbskull he seemed to be, he instead laughed. "Shishishi, you must've really hit your head bad, huh?" Luffy asked rhetorically, which soured Ace's mood. It's not like he was the stupid one here, right?

"...You're serious? Uh, um, well, one berry can buy, uhhh…" Luffy stuttered, raising a couple of fingers, probably making some sort of calculations in his head. So the "B" stood for "berries", then? Like, actual berries, or?... Ace could practically see the steam rising from his ears. It was sort of amusing to see him hunch his back and squint his eyes in concentration, but after a second he seemed to realize something. "Oh! Uh, one hundred million berries can buy a village! I was never the one uhh, buying things, so…" Luffy shrugged, proving that he didn't really know how much one berry was worth. Sadly, since Ace didn't know the approximate value of a village, he could not figure out how much one hundred million berries were supposed to be. "Can't you think of anything more… normal?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow at the strange man. Sure, berries were probably just a fantasy currency from some amusement park, but he had gotten this far, might as well go all the way.

"Um, well… I think a cabbage costs maybe, uhhh… oh, right, 150 berries!" Luffy exclaimed after a good amount of thinking. Ace, who had gone to high school and knew math, quickly deduced that a bounty of 30 000 000 would be around 300 000 dollars, which wasn't exactly chump change. "What'd you do to deserve such a bounty?" Ace asked with a slight smirk, allowing himself to buy into the absurdity of it all. "I beat up a couple of guys, uhhh… a Fishman, some guy and this other guy. But this is just my first bounty, I've gotten much further since then!" Luffy said happily, before seeming to suddenly realizing something, getting a little bit gloomy. "Um, Ace, I, uh, I might have become Pirate King before you did…" he mumbled, poking his two index fingers together and looking up sheepishly. Ace furrowed his brows. He had no idea what a pirate king was, and considering the way he said it, Luffy thought he had wanted to be Pirate King. "No, uh, that's fine, I never really wanted to be Pirate King, to begin with," Ace said, waving his hand, hoping to make Luffy feel less bad about being, uh, "Pirate King."

The second Ace said he never really wanted to be pirate king, Luffy knew something was up. Something was definitely wrong. And as the impulsive man he was, the first thing he did in a situation like this was act rashly, which was just what he did. Before Ace could even say a word of protest, Luffy pushed him to the ground once more, fist raised assertively, face serious. "Who are you?" he asked in a cold, stoic voice. He omitted the "and what have you done to Ace" part since, well, there wasn't much anyone could do to Ace anymore. "H-, hey, what are you-," Ace tried to protest but ceased when he saw that Luffy was deadly serious. Ignoring his haki telling him this was, without a doubt, Ace, he continued his interrogation. "I asked you a question, now answer," he said, glaring into the eyes of the Ace-lookalike, who looked somewhat terrified, but mostly confused.

"I'm, uh, Portugas D. Ace?" the Ace-lookalike answered hesitantly, his body frozen, not knowing if that was the right answer. "You can't be Ace!" Luffy shouted right in the face of the Ace-lookalike, who flinched at this sudden barrage. "First of all, Ace would never give up on his dream! Second of all, Ace is-," Luffy caught himself dead in his tracks. He had to say it. It was hard, but even after all these years, he could still barely even say it. "-is dead!" he finished, feeling the red hot tears that started to stream down his face. He had accepted it long ago, but somehow, saying right to his face that he was dead felt so much more real than anything else.

Ace had a perplexed look on his face as if barely being able to believe what Luffy was saying. "Look-, I'm not sure who you're talking about, but that's not me - I'm alive, and-, if you'll just calm down, I'm sure we can figure something out," Ace said softly, attempting to calm the man down. Somehow, he could see that it worked. Luffy's eyes were softening up as if he really wanted to accept Ace's words, but somehow… couldn't. "Do it!" Ace commanded, hoping the was less intimidating on the inside than he was on the outside. At this prompt, Luffy immediately leaned back, letting his fist fall limp to his side, allowing Ace to get up, which he did. However, this was not due to him being less intimidating on the inside as Ace hypothesized, but instead because he was pretty much conditioned to do whatever Ace said, especially if it was in a stern, commanding tone, which this happened to be.

Scowling slightly, Ace looked over the man with one peering eye. He seemed… nervous. This emotion seemed very unfitting for his body and general posture, but Ace prefered it over the one he had just experienced. "Ace," Luffy said under his breath. "Yeah?..." Ace replied, suddenly feeling very tired. "Where are we?..." Luffy asked. "Uh, my house?" Ace replied, a little confused at the question. Surprisingly, Luffy looked a little bit awestruck at this. "Whoa, I didn't know you had a house!" Luffy exclaimed, suddenly smiling once more. "Well, duh, most people do," Ace said, which Luffy decided not to react to. "And where is your house?" Luffy asked. Sure, he didn't know too many islands, but if he remembered correctly, he had been in North blue last. "Um, we're right outside of New York," Ace said, not really knowing what Luffy was on. He couldn't have flown too far, right?

"Noou Jorc?" Luffy mimicked, making a confused face. He had never heard of Noou Jorc, so this was only to be expected. "Which Blue?" Luffy asked. Ace gave him a strange look. "We're in America if that's what you're wondering?" Ace said, answering a question Luffy hadn't even answered. "What's Amirika?" Luffy asked. He had never heard of it. Was it an island? Was Noou Jorc a town in Amirika? Ace looked at him as if he had asked who Gol. D Roger was. "Uhm, the United States of America? Part of the Americas?" Ace said, looking in disbelief at Luffy, who was even more confused than before. Was he supposed to know what an Amirika was? "What, have you never been on Earth or something?" Ace asked sarcastically, smiling a little at the sheer absurdity of it all. "No? Um-, I've been to Alabasta? And Raftel? Is Erf as big as those?" Luffy asked, hoping dearly Ace was talking about islands. He really didn't like to look stupid in front of his maybe-big brother.

"You-, no, okay, let's do it like this - where were you before the storm? I'm assuming you were hit by a storm, right?" Ace asked, trying his damndest not to hit this guy over the head. Ace had a feeling that Luffy could trash him easily, but he was kind of denying it in his mind. "Well, lessee… I was on the North blue, sailing in my little sailboat, I had been sailing for around three months, the last place I visited was Drum island to see how they were doing," Luffy started recounting his last couple of months, but Ace stopped him. "Hold up-, you were on the sea for three months?" Ace asked. Luffy gave him a sort of "what are you, stupid?" look. "Yeah, in my little sailboat," he replied, nodding. "Uhuh… yeah, no, you've lost me," Ace admitted, leaning back a little. This man was insane and he should call somebody. "Just stay right there okay I'll be right ba-," Ace attempted to say, even going so far as to start standing up, when all of a sudden the door was thrust open and somebody almost fell inside, slamming the door behind them. They were dripping wet, which made Luffy realize that the storm was still going on outside. The person was dressed in a blue raincoat and was currently in the process of unfolding an umbrella. Putting the umbrella into a weird cylinder Luffy didn't know the use for by the door, the man looked up, and Luffy recognized him for who he was.

"Ah, Pineapple-head!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling and waving exaggeratedly at the confused looking man. "M-, Marco? Aren't you home a bit too early?" Ace said to the man, who was removing his raincoat despite being quite dazed and confused. "Yeah, I heard about the sudden storm and wanted to know you were alright, um… what's up with the porch? And who's that man?" Marco asked, somehow trying to point in two directions at the same time and failing quite miserably. "Eeeeehh, don't you know me either?" Luffy whined, his shoulders slumping and lower lip puffing out in a small pout. "He says his name is "Monkey D. Luffy", and I don't know how, but he was the one who split the porch in two," Ace said, standing up and walking over to Marco in a tired fashion, showing just how much of a bother Luffy was.

At this, Marco's eyelids flared up for a second. "Did you say "Luffy?..." he asked, his gaze shifting quickly from the man and Ace beside him. "Yeah, what of it?" Ace asked. "Ooooh! So you do recognize me! Shishishi!" Luffy shouted, hopping to his feet energetically, reaching up to his full height rather quickly. And boy, he was quite tall. And muscular. "No, no, can't be," Marco said under his breath, shaking his head in denial. At this little refusal, Luffy pouted once more, puffing his cheeks out like a squirrel. For a grown man, it looked quite strange, and yet it oddly fitted him very well. "The Luffy I know is about 175, 17, and most importantly, in school by this time," Marco stated bluntly. "Well, I wasn't always like this y'know," Luffy said sarcastically, looking off to the left, a bit disappointed that his friend would doubt him. "So? They can hardly be the same guy," Ace replied, completely ignoring Luffy's comment. Marco gave him an odd little look before continuing. "Yeah, but he has the same nickname for me, despite my being his teacher. Plus, the laugh is exactly the same…" Marco theorized, staring into the floor in thought. "Coincidence?" Ace asked. "Coincidence," Marco agreed.

Ace suddenly realized something. "Hey, uh, Luffy? You still got that poster on you?" Ace asked Luffy, who was still somewhat pouting. Luffy, upon hearing Ace say his name, immediately perked up, his mouth turning into a grin quicker than humanly possible, and he easily grabbed the rolled-up poster from within his coat. "He doesn't happen to look anything like this, does he?" Ace asked, unfurling the poster and showing it to Marco. Marco easily ignored all of the text regarding being wanted for so and so many Bs, instead immediately recognizing the teenager in the picture. "Yeah, that's him! Where did you get this though?..." Marco asked, somehow both curious and apprehensive. Why did Ace and/or this here stranger have a picture of one of his students?... Ace simply pointed to "Luffy".

"Hm? Well, I got it from one of my friends who was keeping it on her wall like a poster, but it's hardly the most recent poster I have," Luffy said proudly, smirking a little at all the sudden attention he was getting. Ace didn't know what Marco wanted to say, but Ace really just wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Can I see your latest one?" he asked, to which Luffy immediately gave a half-moon grin and rummaged through his pockets. "I actually got this one on my last trip - I was so happy to see it jumped up again that I just had to borrow it - and now I'm so glad I did - ah, there!" Luffy finally said, fishing another roll of paper out of his coat, however, this one was less roughed-up. Luffy gave it to Ace, who in turn un-rolled it. The picture was almost exactly the same as the earlier one, with the only real differences being his age, and the fact that the man on the bottom left looking away from the camera was no longer present. Other than that, they were pretty much identical, down to the very scar underneath their left eye.

The text on the top still said "WANTED - dead or alive", but the bottom was very different. The name was now given the title of "Pirate King", and the bounty was… Ace had to stop for a moment to read up all the zeroes. One, two, three four… "Th-, thirteen billion?..." he asked aloud, telling himself over and over again that it was just some photograph thing from a wild-west themed amusement park. Or maybe pirate-themed? He could faintly hear Luffy laughing and blushing at the bounty, as if proud. Marco didn't say anything but looked really thoughtful.

"You referred to me by a nickname - do you happen to know me?" Marco asked, only growing more curious by the second. "Huh? Oh, yeah! You were Ace's friend, after all! You helped me a lot back there, y'know! Shishishi!" Luffy thanked Marco. Marco had no idea what this "war" was, but something told him this man wasn't just some random looney. "What war?" he asked. Luffy's eyes darkened, and he smiled bitterly. "...I thought you'd at least remember that…" Luffy mused, his voice quiet and soft. "The battle of Marineford, where the Whitebeard pirates and the marines went to war over the life of a single prisoner," Luffy said, his memories taking on an almost nostalgic tint. "Who was the prisoner?" Marco asked gently, sensing the tone in Luffy's words. Luffy smiled bitterly. "Ace," he replied, pointing a weak finger at the freckled boy standing before him.

Ace really didn't know how to respond to that. This man had been spouting one weird thing after the next, but this had to take the cake. Marineford? Whitebeard pirates? He was a prisoner? What? Somehow, Marco didn't laugh, didn't even smirk at this absurdity. Ace was trying to hold himself as best as he could, but Mark knew a veteran when he saw one, and this man was not lying. "Could you describe in detail?" Marco asked gently. Luffy would rather not, but somehow, he could feel that it would be alright to speak about this to Marco. Maybe if he described it, Marco would remember? Maybe.

"Well, uh, it began when I found out that they had taken you prisoner, and were going to execute you. I decided to rescue you, and broke into Impel Down-," "what's "Impel Down"?" "It's this underwater prison that's pretty much hell. You were at the bottommost level, where they kept all their most dangerous prisoners-," "I was dangerous?" "Well, yeah, you were the second commander of the Whitebeard fleet, so-," "Whitebeard fleet?" "He was this really big ojiisan, supposedly the strongest man alive, a title which I now hold shishishi," "Wait, ojiisan? Did he have a weird white moustache?..." "Oh, yeah, that too," "Marco you don't think…?" "Yeah, maybe," "Anyways, I went down to Impel Down, but when I got to the lowest level, you were gone, but I found this Fishman-," "Fishman?" "...Don't tell me you've forgotten an entire race?..." "..." "...They're half-man half-fish people - anyways, we caused a prison break, stole a battleship and went to Marineford, where we fought for a bit and I barely escaped with my life," Luffy finished, keeping everything as minimalistic as possible.

"Wait-, hold up-," Ace said, lifting his hands into the air to signify defeat. "I don't care about the actual war, how-, how did I, um, die?" Ace asked, or rather, requested, as timidly as he possibly could. Luffy sighed, a slight smile on his face contrasting the horrified look in his eyes. As if he had known he was going to have to explain that. "Akinu punched a hole through your chest with a fist of lava. You died in my arms, Ace," Luffy stated matter-of-factly, almost as if he had said that single sentence more times than he wished he had. "A fist… of lava?..." Ace mumbled questioningly. "Yeah. He's made of lava, remember?" Luffy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Isn't Akinu what they call that stern police lieutenant?" Marco asked Ace, to which Ace nodded absentmindedly. "-But out Akinu isn't, uh, "made of lava", as you say," Marco continued. Luffy looked at him as if he had told him the One Piece didn't exist.

"Uh… what's he made of, then?..." Luffy asked hesitantly. "Person?" Marco answered. His answer would have been humorous if Luffy didn't look so shocked by it. "He doesn't have magma powers?" Luffy finally asked loudly, almost to the point of shouting. "N-, no, nobody has magma powers? Or "powers" in general, actually?..." Marco said, attempting to answer the hysteric Luffy's questions as best as he possibly could. Luffy, surprisingly, laughed. "What, you're going to tell me you're not a phoenix and Ace isn't made of fire?" Luffy asked. He was met with two very, very confused looks. Luffy frowned. Maybe they had just forgotten that, much like how they had forgotten him and the war and that Fishmen existed?...

Only one way to find out.

"I'm going to hit you now," Luffy said blankly. "What?" Ace answered with a look just as blank. And without using haki of any colour, Luffy casually punched Ace in the chest without using any of monstrous strength, fully expecting his fist to simply pass through Ace's flaming body. However, instead, Ace was thrown across the room, crashing into a fancy-looking table with a loud "thud". Luffy couldn't do anything but stand staring at his fist for a second, absolutely shocked. Not just by the fact that his fist did not, in fact, pass through Ace's body as it was supposed to, but also by the fact that Ace was so… weak. Marco, too. His haki could barely even pick up their signatures!

Once this moment passed, however, Luffy somewhat realized what he did. "A-, Ace!" he cried, running up to the table Ace had crashed into at superhuman speeds. "Are you alright?" he asked loudly, shaking Ace's body back and forth. Ace groaned in response, his hand reaching up to massage his sore head. "Wh-, what did you do?..." Marco asked from behind Luffy, an accusatory tone clearly present in his tone. "I was just going to-, his flames aren't working! What happened to him!?" Luffy cried, worry welling up in him. Marco looked at him, his gaze turning more to pity than to anger or fear. "Luffy, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but we don't have powers here - nobody is made of flames or lava and nobody can turn into a phoenix. That just isn't possible," Marco stated bluntly, ignoring the tears welling up in Luffy's eyes. Luffy had cried more this last hour than he had in all his years as Pirate King.

"But it is!" Luffy said, his left hand quickly pulling on his left cheek, and unlike what Marco would have expected this movement to do, the cheek giving no resistance to the pinch and drag, instead of stretching to the occasion, going as far as Luffy could drag it. Marco doubted his eyes. Luffy quickly released his grip on his cheek, allowing it to snap back in place. "Wha-," "I'm a rubberman! I'm made of rubber! I ate the gomu-gomu no mi!" Luffy shouted, interrupting Marco. "So if I can still be made of rubber, how come you're not a phoenix?" Luffy asked in turn, which sent Marco into thought. Perhaps this wasn't some looney or a shell-shocked veteran. Perhaps everything he had said was true, and this simply wasn't… HIS world?

"Have you thought, that maybe, perhaps, you're not from this world?..." Marco asked. Luffy stared at him blankly. "Think about it - in your world, Ace died, yet here, he's alive. And this is clearly not a dream or anything, so… maybe, in the storm, you were sent here from another world?" Marco asked rhetorically. He could almost see the cogs in Luffy's head turning, albeit slowly. "So, you're not… MY pineapple-head?..." Luffy asked after a while, looking up at Marco with a confused look. Marco nodded slowly in response.

Standing up, Luffy stepped a bit closer to Marco, who suddenly felt very small. "Will Ace be alright?..." Luffy finally asked, looking down at the ground meekly and shamefully. Marco stepped past him and checked Ace over. He wasn't bleeding, and he didn't seem to be doing so bad, and none of his limbs were broken, so… "Yeah, he'll be alright, just give him a moment," Marco answered, to which Luffy sighed a sigh of relief.

"So, uh, you're really a pirate?" Marco asked, poking at Ace to wake him up. "Hm? Yeah, of course! But I'm not just any pirate, I'm the Pirate King!" Luffy stated boldly, standing wide-legged and proud. "And what exactly does it mean to be a "pirate king"? What does that entail?..." Marco asked. "Well, it means that I found the One Piece, and… that's pretty much it," Luffy answered, shrugging. "What's the "one piece"?" Marco asked, feeling as if he was just getting more and more questions out of this. "Well… Shishishi! Not telling!" Luffy suddenly said, grinning broadly from ear to ear, acting more childish than even the Luffy Marco knew. This-world-Luffy.

"So, uh, you're strong?" Marco asked, flinching a bit as Ace finally woke back up, groaning loudly as he rubbed his head. Ace finally sat up. "What the hell happened?..." he asked, wincing as he touched a particularly sore spot on his chest. "Well, I think I figured out the mystery of this guy over here. He's from another world," Marco stated bluntly. Ace was suddenly wide awake. "WHAT?!" Ace roared, getting up to his feet instantly to face Luffy. "Shishishsishi! Yeah!" Luffy said, smiling brightly. "Wait… you punched me!" Ace shouted, caring more about getting revenge than the fact that he was facing a man from a different world. "Ace wait-," Marco said, trying to stop what he knew Ace would soon do. However, he was too late, and the young freckled man threw himself at the much older adult, his right fist clenched for a punch. However, the second his punch made contact with Luffy's flesh, something felt… wrong. The texture was different, and somehow, it felt as though his fist was sinking into the flesh rather than bruising it, and within just a second of him throwing his punch, his fist somehow rebounded, throwing Ace backwards, making him slam back to the floor once more.

Luffy laughed loudly at this, going so far as to clutch at his stomach from the sheer hilariousness of it. "What the-," Ace exclaimed, which made Luffy laugh even harder. Marco, in his eternal wisdom, decided to enlighten Ace. "If you'd listened, you would have understood- he's from another world," Marco said. "He's what?..." "And, if his words are anything to go by, he's pretty strong. And also made of rubber, apparently," "Strong in what way? I mean, you can be strong like endurance-wise or at just punching people, so like…" "I think he's just strong, period," Marco finally responded. Luffy, who had stopped laughing at this point, was eyeing the two curiously. Ace turned to Luffy. "How strong are you, exactly?" he asked, because frankly, he wasn't some sort of wimp himself, and he'd feel a lot better if he knew that this guy was at least somewhat supernatural or something. Ace decided to ignore the "rubber" part for now. Not important. "Uhh, well, I think I'm the strongest man in the world? Wouldn't be much of a Pirate King if I wasn't, shishishi!" Luffy answered briefly. He didn't actually know if he was the strongest, there was always the possibility of some hidden, unknown foe, but for now, he was at the top.

"Okay, so, uh, I don't know how to interpret that, but if I were to go to your world, how strong would I be?" Ace asked honestly. Like in pure strength, he should be at least somewhat strong, right? "Hmmm, well, you from my world was really strong! I never beat him, but if I were to fight him now, I'd win without even trying. And he had a life of training and the flame-flame fruit to back him up, so if you were to be a pirate, I guess you'd be an ordinary henchman?" Luffy said. Ace had been kind of hopeful, FLATTERED, even, but then he dropped that little bombshell. Was Ace really that weak?...

Luffy didn't really know how to follow that one up. Ace looked really depressed, but to Luffy, most everyone below the admirals of yonkou were small-fry that he didn't really care enough about to not take them out with haki. "What am I like? You said I could turn into a phoenix of sorts, what did you mean by that?" Marco asked, changing the subject abruptly, which Luffy was very happy about. "Well, you were the first division commander, but after the battle of marineford, you kind of took off on your own, but you became a warlord of the sea too!" Luffy recalled, a smile lighting his face every now and then. "So I didn't die?" Marco asked suspiciously, knowing that Luffy was keeping quite a lot of things from them, whether he knew it or not. "Well, not as far as I know, but I haven't been to an island in a while, not counting this one, so I'm not too sure about current new," Luffy said. "This isn't an island, but sure," Ace replied, shrugging. Luffy gave him quite a strange look. "This isn't an island?" "No, this is a continent?" "What's a "continent"?" "It's like a really big island?" "Oh, okay,"

Their musing was suddenly interrupted by the growling of certain Pirate King's stomach. Luffy laughed a little and scratched at his neck. Ace could only guess at what this gesture could mean, but he was pretty sure his guess was right on. "Right, uh, it's past lunchtime, but if you haven't eaten, I guess I could whip something up?" Ace asked, pointing in the direction of the kitchen, which was where Luffy had punched him earlier. Ace still felt a bit sore. Had Luffy been serious then, or?...

"Sure! I'm starving!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning broadly at the idea of food. Ace quickly stumbled over to the kitchen, limping slightly, to Luffy's distress, and started rummaging through the fridge to find ingredients to make something from. He didn't find much, but he assumed that Luffy wouldn't mind whether he made food or metal. Luffy really didn't. Luffy hadn't had a properly cooked meal in three months, and a properly cooked meal by ACE?... that was even further from it. Maybe even a little fantastic, if he was to be honest. But, nevertheless, Luffy dumped his body on a bar-like fixture right by the kitchen, nervously waiting for Ace to get started.

Ace decided to go with the most simple of arrangements, with fried eggs and bacon along with some bread, butter and various toppings. However, the second he sat down a plate of food in front of the hungry man, it was gone. Ace doubted his eyes. No man could eat food faster than another man could see, right?... Then again, this man had travelled dimensions and was the leader of some sort of pirate monarchy Ace hadn't bothered to remember much of, so maybe the impossible was possible?...

"Could I have some more?" Luffy asked politely, snapping Ace out of his shocking thoughts. "Huh? Oh, uh, sure," Ace replied dumbly as he went back to frying eggs and bacon. When he turned back, he found that every single topping, a slice of bread and scoops of butter that he had presented were gone. And Luffy still looked hungry. "Marco, did you?..." "No, I… don't know what happened either."


	2. Chapter 2, Noodle Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First chapter after a year's hiatus, Luffy takes a bath

Just how fast do you have to be to make a full plate of food disappear in less than a second? And, furthermore, how hungry do you have to be?... Pondering these questions, Ace turned back to frying eggs. You really shouldn't have to fry a man more than four eggs, but apparently, this man-child had the constitution of a bodybuilder, and damn did he need his eggs. Sure, Ace and Marco also needed their eggs, but it's not as if they were fast enough to grab them.

Not even once the egg carton was entirely empty and their four-weeks supply of bacon was ransacked was Luffy fully done.

"That's it," Ace sighed in defeat, "that's all the food we've got." Turning around, he came face-to-face with the still-chewing face of the self-proclaimed Pirate King. He gulped down the last of the food and stared at Ace with a dead-panned, stone-faced expression.

"That's it?" he asked, frowning.

"That's it." Ace shrugged, a scowl of annoyance tugging at his lips.

Luffy looked down at his empty plate, and back up at Ace.

"Y'know, back in my world, I could eat so much my stomach bulged out five feet. And so could you!" Luffy somewhat bragged, completely ignoring the stunned Marco in the background. Marco still hadn't gotten even a single strip of bacon, much less an egg. Ace could feel a grown stirring in his throat.

"Well, this isn't your world, and we simply don't have that kind of egg volume!" Ace said, leaning his body on the counter, successfully having the high-ground over Luffy. Luffy, although hardly a beginner to standing up for his reasoning, did not fight this. Instead, his back hunched considerably, and he pouted.

"Look, I…" Ace pinched the bridge of his nose. How was he supposed to handle a situation like this? He'd never wanted a child to begin with, and now he had to deal with one anyway! What a hack. "Luffy, I'll go out and buy some more eggs, alright?"

Luffy's attention was roused.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Really really?! And meat also!?" Luffy said, turning fully to face Ace, his eyes glittering and mouth already drooling, as if he hadn't just plundered their fridge like the true pirate he was. Ace didn't know whether he wanted to beat him up or give him all the soup in the pantry. In the end, he wasn't the one to decide.

"How about we bring you grocery shopping with us? Then you can pick out something yourself," Marco helpfully proposed, butting in on the conversation with a lax smile. Ace squinted his eyes, turning the idea over in his head and examining it. Taking this otherworldly looney to a store…

He glanced over at the starry-eyed Pirate King.

"Nope, no way," he said, bluntly disregarding the mere idea.

"Aw, come on Ace! It'll be fun! It'll be an ADVENTURE! I can handle myself!" Luffy whined, ideas of all the parallel-world adventures he could have in this brave new world all swirling around in his head. He had no real idea what grocery shopping was, but it probably had to do with hunting or something, which Luffy was sure he could handle. After all, he'd spent the last couple of months eating half/barely-cooked sea kings, so how bad could it be?

"Oh no, no-no-no. Look, you're a pirate, right? You said so yourself. So, what do pirates do?" Ace asked, the latter part aimed more at Marco than Luffy himself. Marco knew the answer, but didn't exactly want to say it, since, well… Luffy seemed like a swell guy so far. A little childish, maybe. A little prone to violence, maybe. But in no way malicious. But, in the end, he had to say something.

"...They pillage?" he admitted, entirely missing the dazed expression on Luffy's face.

"Yeah, they pillage! So, if we take this guy, pirate of pirates, to a fucking grocery store, what will he do?" Ace asked, knowing they both knew the answer. Both Marco and Ace couldn't help but glance suspiciously at the criminal in the midst. Luffy didn't exactly know what they'd been talking about, but it seemed they believed him to be lacking in combat ability.

"Whatever you throw at me, I can take it!" he proclaimed, fist in the air.

"See?" Ace said, waving at the caped monarch. Marco almost face-palmed. Actually, he did.

"Luffy, I may have been a bit hasty in my-,"

"I'm coming along! There is adventure out there! I haven't had an adventure in too long, and this sounds too cool to pass up on!" Luffy said, the prospect of a new adventure suddenly dawned on him. He'd explored the world, after all. Finished Nami's map. Found the all blue. But now, here… he could explore something new. Take part in adventures beyond his understanding. And do it with his brother, to boot!

It was almost too good to be true, but Luffy didn't dare question it.

"See? This is what happens when-,"

"Why don't we let him? Alright, yeah. Okay. Look, he's not going to change his mind. Are you?" Marco interrupted, taking a step closer to Luffy. Ace squinted at him. No. No way.

"Nope! I'm infamously stubborn, shishishi!" Luffy admitted, grinning broadly and pulling up the good 'ol peace-sign as if that made anything any better. Ace scowled but didn't have any further argument. Sure, he could say what he wanted, he might even be able to convince Luffy that not going out was for the best, but… In the end, Luffy would have to go outside sometime.

"I-, sure. Whatever. But you can't go out dressed like that! And, since your world must be some sort of stinking medieval world, you'll have to take a shower. You're still drenched," Ace said, crossing his arms and turning away from the two. Marco smiled in relief, and Luffy, although he certainly was happy about getting to come along on an adventure, was hardly happy about having to take a shower for it. And, well… What was so wrong about his cardigan and shorts?... But if Ace said it, it must be true.

"Alright, we'll do it like that, then. Come on Luffy, let me show you the upstairs," Marco said, directing Luffy towards the stairs. Luffy, in turn, happily hopped off the barstool he'd been sitting at and followed Marco up the stairs. "This here is the master bedroom, here's the bathroom where you will be taking your shower, and here's the guest-room you may or may not be staying. You go ahead and take a shower while I grab you some clean clothes, that sound good, Luffy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure! No, wait, hold on. I can't shower," Luffy realized, scratching at his head. Marco didn't seem too disturbed by this. Well, either that, or he just couldn't handle the thought. Most likely the latter, since his left eye seemed to be twitching slightly.

"And, uh, why is that?" Marco asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He should never have agreed to take care of a magical other-worldly pirate.

"I can't swim. Like, when I go in water? I just fall right down, like a hammer," Luffy explained, helpfully moving his hands theatrically to illustrate his drowning. Marco nodded slowly and frowned.

"So… you're a pirate who can't swim?..."

"Yup!"

"And I take it you're not some sort of air-faring pirates, but actual sea-dwelling people?"

"Yup, that's right!"

"Look, Luffy, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but… how in the world have you lived for this long?" Marco asked, his brows furrowed for maximum sceptical. Luffy, in turn, glanced up at the roof, lips pressed into a thin line, hand cupping his stubbled chin.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure!" he said, as honestly as anybody could ever say anything. And it was true. He really should be dead. Hell, he should have been caught by the navy years ago, considering he wasn't exactly evading them much.

"So… how do you usually get cleaned?..." Marco asked, altogether baffled by the man before him.

"Well, I don't usually get cleaned, but sometimes when I reach an island people say I reek so bad they all chip in and wash me in a wash bin or something, shishishi!" Luffy said, and although the whole situation sounded like a bad joke, especially with that laugh at the end, Marco could tell it wasn't. Much like everything else Luffy had laid over the past hours, it was the truth. A tad bit simplified, to be sure, but still the truth.

"...In other words, you haven't had a shower in months, and you're going to need help getting one?..."

"Yup, pretty much!"

"...No, I'm not doing that."

"Oh, uh… well, if you want, you could just leave me to soak in the tub for a while? Just make sure my head is out of the water so I don't drown," Luffy offered diplomatically. Yeah… that didn't sound so bad, did it?

"Alright, sure. Sure, just turn on the water and get undressed and-, wait, can't you do this on your own!?"

"Uhh… maybe? People always insist on making sure I got clean, but I guess I could do it by myself?"

"The bathroom is right in there, go ahead," Marco finally said, and without any further explanation, he headed back downstairs, where Ace was busy cleaning up all the pans he'd had to use to try and feed the hungry pirate king.

"Marco, I really don't like this," Ace said, finally putting away all the cutlery and stuff to their rightful drawers and cupboards. "We can't keep him here or nothing! At least, not if he's going to be eating that much for every meal," he grumbled.

"You want us to call the police on him? Really?" Marco asked, smirking. There was no way Ace could answer that, and he knew it.

"Grr, no, I guess not. It's just-, he's trying to say he's my brother, and that's messing a lot with my head. I mean, I have a brother, sort of, but… Plus, he said his last name wasn't even Portugas, so I really don't get any of this," Ace ranted, pacing back and forth in front of Marco.

"We can ask him all about it once he finishes his bath. Oh, right, I should check in on him. Give me a moment," Marco said, climbing the stairs once more. By the end of a hallway, right in front of the guest-room, was the bathroom. Thankfully, unlike what Marco almost expected, there hadn't been a flood, and no water was flowing out from underneath the door. Apparently, this pirate dude wasn't a total failure.

The only odd detail Marco could notice was the steady humming coming from inside. Well, not quite humming, more like a low groan. Marco didn't know exactly how do deal with that, so he did the most polite thing he could do and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Is everything going alright in there, Luffy?" he said, putting his ear to the door. There was that groaning again. A moment passed.

"C-, chome ihn," a slack-jawed voice mumbled from the other side of the door. Marco was hesitant and for good reason. But, if he insisted…

Curiously, the door was not locked. That might have been because Luffy had decided against it since he might need assistance not to drown, or it might be because he simply forgot it. Marco, despite barely knowing Luffy, leaned more against the latter option.

Pulling the door open, Marco was met with an odd sight. The first thing he noticed was, well, Luffy. Or, rather, his head. Smushed down on the floor, leaning a little, eyes showing only the whites, mouth open and foaming. However, what truly made this a strange, other-wordly (in the most literal sense) experience was the fact that Luffy's neck was stretched out, and connected to the noodle-like bundle of limbs huddled up in the bathtub itself. Marco could not make up which noodle-like limb was which in that huddle, it was like looking into a colander filled with spaghetti, everything lying all Piggly-wiggly.

If the man hadn't been twitching like a Mexican sugar dancer, Marco might have assumed Luffy was dead, drowned. Instead, he hesitantly approached the head, bent down, and tried to catch his attention.

"L-, Luffy, are you alright? Is this how you usually do?..." Marco asked.

"Y-, yhes, buht ghet mhe ouht," Luffy hissed back.

"Well, okay, but I'm not looking," Marco replied, and he could feel his cheeks heating up at the mere thought of touching that bundle of noodles in the tub. So, in the end, he just grabbed a hold of the shoulders, pulled them out, and let the rest of the body follow as if his whole rubbery body was a non-Newtonian fluid.

And with that said and done, Marco left the room, and closed the door behind him, letting Luffy deal with the rest himself.

"There's a towel on the towel rack you can use," was the last thing Marco told him before he closed the door, and the last he saw of Luffy was a trembling thumbs-up sign.

And while Luffy got himself all dried up, Marco grabbed some of his own clothes for him to wear. Nothing complicated, just a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, since the man seemed into shorts.

"I'm DONE!" Luffy shouted as she burst out from the bathroom just down the hall, towel thankfully around his waist. And, oh man, if he was anything, it was buff. It was no wonder he could beat Ace into next year. Marco grabbed the neatly stacked pile of clothes he'd chosen and handed it to the excited man, who accepted it somewhat hesitantly.

"Here, change into this," Marco urged, pointing to the guest-room.

"Can't I use my normal clothes?..." Luffy whined, glancing between the clothes and Marco like a pleading puppy.

"No, your old clothes were damp and dusty, we need to wash them. Furthermore, we can't exactly have you looking like a pirate out on the town, can we?"

"Grrr, I guess so… but my coat stays on!"

"Just-, just put the clothes on, we'll discuss the details later," Marco said, leaving Luffy alone to go downstairs.

Luffy looked down at the clothes and back up at Marco's retreating back. Yeah, he'd totally wear his epic coat, no question of it. Humming to himself, Luffy wandered into the guest-room, his black eyes excitedly examining its features. It was very angular, with muted, boring colours. Luffy didn't much like how strangely boring it looked, but it was Ace's house, so it was fine.

With that all said and done, he put on the clothes.

They weren't very comfortable. The shirt was tight and coarse. and although the shorts weren't as bad, they were also tight. Luffy grumbled to himself and exited the guest room, but before he went downstairs once more, he grabbed his beloved fancy coat from the bathroom. Yeah, he wouldn't be parted from this in a while. This was his proof of royalty, after all! Only strong people wore coats like that, after all. Of course, he didn't leave his beloved straw hat behind either.

Cleaner than he'd been in months, he burst downstairs, once more coming face to face with his brother and a young-looking Marco. Luffy couldn't honestly say he didn't feel weird about meeting his brother again after so many years, but it was too good to dismiss, so he just did as he wanted, which also happened to be what he usually did.

"All ready!" Luffy exclaimed happily, thoughts of what adventures were to be had passing through his head at breakneck speeds.

And adventures would be had.


	3. Chapter 3, to the grocery store! (an adventure beyond human scope)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy, Ace and Marco take a ride to the grocery store since Luffy robbed them of all food, but not before cementing the fact that Luffy is, indeed, not of this world.

Once downstairs, Luffy was met once more with the faces of Marco and Ace, one smiling, the other scowling. Luffy couldn't say he didn't wish Ace would treat him like he used to way-back-when, but all would come in due time. No, Luffy had not learnt patient, he had only understood that there might be something to it.

"I'll drive," Ace grumbled, clearly unhappy about this whole situation but going along with it anyways. Marco didn't answer but did walk up to Luffy as if to lead him to wherever it is they were going. Grocery store. Wherever and whatever that place might be, it could be just about as dangerous as the calm belt. Just the thought of that monster-wrought place sent chills down Luffy's spine, but not only out of fear but also excitement. It had been fun. Once he was the strongest, the only real way to challenge him had been a gaggle of powerful enemies, all in a terrain he could barely survive in. It's not like he'd been searching for it, he just sort of drifted over into it and happened to have made it out just fine. A fine couple of months that had been.

While Luffy reminisced about the past, Ace grabbed a hold of a pair of keys and stepped outside. Marco poked at Luffy's shoulder, wincing at the odd sensation. Thoughts of what he'd seen in the tub ran through his head, and Marco couldn't honestly say it'd be anything he'd soon forget. Luffy looked down at him, curiosity and a need for thrills evident in his gaze.

"Luffy, it's best we'd get moving," Marco said softly, nodding to the entrance. Luffy smiled bravely and swallowed. He wasn't scared. The Pirate King was afraid of nothing! But, then again, would it really have been so bad if he had been a tad bit frightened? This was a whole new world, after all! Sure, Ace was pathetically weak, but that didn't mean everybody else in this world was as well. He might just meet a new rival here. The possibilities were endless!

With that said, Luffy emerged into a brave new world. It was… somewhat disappointing.

The storm had passed long since, leaving the sky a hopeful blue, with the afternoon sun shining brightly. There was no sea in sight. Somehow, this fact made Luffy a bit anxious. The trio was standing next to a broad, stony street, which was lined with nearly identical houses, one of which they had just emerged from.

The only really interesting fact was the front of the house, where an unrecognizable heap of broken wood could be seen. It might have been something before, but now it was barely even wood chippings. Right beside it was the porch Luffy had smashed into. That would mean…

"...Is this my boat?..." Luffy mumbled to himself. Marco looked over the pile of broken wood and back to Luffy.

"...I suppose it might once have been something like that," Marco noted.

"NOOOOOOOO-, MINHEE!" Luffy howled, falling down on his knees in despair. Marco could do nothing but stare on, slack-jawed and mute as Luffy crawled up to the pile of wood and cradled some of it. "You were too good for this world, Minhee."

Drying his tears on the edge of his coat, Luffy released his grip on the wood and started rummaging through the pile. Before Marco had a chance to ask him what he was searching for, Luffy pulled out a metallic chest. Old-fashioned in design and seemingly entirely made out of gold, the deep, rich colours glittered proudly in the noon sun. Luffy breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, the chest still in his arms.

"-What's that?" Marco asked, taking a step closer to inspect the chest closer. Surely it couldn't be entirely made of gold, could it?...

"It's my chest! I keep everything important to me in here! Let's see here," Luffy fiddled with his coat, successfully holding the no doubt heavy chest with one hand, and pulling out a small golden key, he unlocked the chest, "there!" The chest almost popped open, revealing an almost miscellaneous bundle of items.

A book, a map, a carefully folded black cloth, a small bottle containing a single pill, a broken shard of some sword, a fiddle, a slingshot, a small mech toy, a cookbook, a strangely coloured stone, and, finally, a framed picture of a smiling young man. A smiling young man Marco recognized very well.

"Isn't that-?"

"It is," Luffy affirmed, fishing out the picture and handing it to Marco, who accepted it. The frame seemed to be made of some odd sort of stone, which made it quite heavy to hold. "Oh, that's seastone. It's so evil people won't try to steal it from me, not that anybody would dare, shishishi."

"Seastone? What does it do?" Marco asked, examining the picture. It portrayed a young man in a strange hat, his hand on the camera, the whole of him seemingly on fire, which somehow didn't alarm the man himself. It was definitely Ace. "Ace? Come over here."

"Yeah, what is it?" Ace asked, popping out of the car parked on the driveway. Apparently, he'd been sitting there while Marco and Luffy talked.

"Come look at this… oh, Luffy, do go on about the seastone," Marco said, somehow talking to the both of them.

"Uhh, I don't really know exactly what seastone is, but I know it makes people with devil-fruit abilities all queasy and powerless," Luffy explained. "Y'know, kind of like how I was in the bath?"

"Devil fruit abilities… is that why you're a rubber man? And… if it makes you like you were in the bath, how come you didn't collapse just by touching it?"

"Shishishi, I trained! I can kind of deal with seastone, which most others can't, I think! But water is still too much from me."

"Alright, what's going on?" Ace asked, finally joining the two.

"Look at this," Marco presented Ace with the picture," this is you, isn't it?"

Ace furrowed his brows.

"Yeah… it is."

"I'm glad to be here," Luffy added with a tender smile, gazing lovingly at Ace, who, in turn, looked somewhat disgusted. Still, Luffy did not relent. If anything, his happiness to be near Ace only grew the more he saw him, no matter what Ace did.

"Whatever! Let's get going! Ace said, trying to move the group towards the car.

"No, wait, hold up, I gotta show you my flag!" Luffy beamed, grabbing the black piece of cloth from the golden chest. Marco, who hadn't moved from his spot, just sort of watched on, that ever-present lazy smile still staying. Ace stopped in his tracks but wasn't too hyped about it.

Puffing in excitement, Luffy unfolded the cloth, revealing it to be monstrous in size. And without even the slightest hesitation or shame, Luffy held it up for the two to see. A cartoonish skull and crossbones, grinning brightly with the very same straw-hat Luffy himself wore sitting atop its head.

"Great, huh?! Usopp drew it for me way back when I was just getting the crew altogether, and we've kept it since! It's one of my biggest treasures! Me, my crew, and this is what took me all the way through the grand line!" Luffy said, eyes glittering as bright as diamonds (I know diamonds don't shine they reflect shut up). Neither Ace nor Marco seemed too impressed with this, however, something piqued Marco's interest.

"Usopp… You don't happen to mean Usopp as in… long-nosed braggart?" Marco asked, frowning at the mere thought.

"Yup, that's Usopp! Well, was. He's been gone for quite a few years now…" Luffy said, a shadow passing over his face. "The rest are gone, too. It's just me left."

"No, Luffy, that's not what I meant. I… I know him. He's also one of my students," Marco said, carefully making stern eye contact with Luffy. Luffy didn't seem too believing.

"...Also?..." Luffy asked. It would seem that was the one word he hitched on.

"Yes, also. As I said earlier, I have a student named Luffy, and well… Alright, listen for a moment. I exist here, and so does Ace, same as in your universe. And, so does Luffy. So, would it be strange to assume that more of the people you know exist here as well? Such as, for example, Usopp," Marco said, deliberately moving Luffy through his way of thinking. Luffy was not a smart man by any means, but even he could follow Marco's logic.

"So-, so… Usopp is alive?... and-, and everybody else?..." Luffy almost whispered, his voice, previously booming and assured, now uncertain and nervous, the roar of a lion turned to the squeak of a mouse.

"I'm not saying anything for sure, but it's definitely possible."

"Hah… hahah, hahahahahah-!" Luffy laughed. And he smiled. And he cried. Because he was so relieved, and happy, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was. Grinning, tears in his eyes, he turned to Ace, who already looked apprehensive. Ace recognized that look in Luffy's eyes.

"Don't-," was all Ace could say before Luffy had leapt at his, sweeping him up in his powerful arms, entirely against the smaller man's protests.

"Ace! My god-, this is too good-, I can-, I can meet them again!" Luffy roared, too happy to notice just how fiercely his brother was struggling. Marco could do nothing but look on, occasionally looking off at the side to ignore Ace's attempts at shooting daggers into him.

But the moment soon came to an end, and finally, Luffy let the poor man down.

"I-, I'm sorry. This is all too much. I just-, Pineapple-head?"

"Yes?..."

"Where-, where can I find them? Where are they?" Luffy asked, clearly giving off the impression that, if given a location, he'd go there at speeds faster than the human eye could see. He gave off this impression because that's exactly what he'd do. Marco recognized this, but even if he didn't, there wouldn't have been much information he could have given.

"I don't know where they are. School was cancelled at lunch due to the sudden storm, so they're most likely at home."

"Ohh, so that's why you came home so quickly?" Ace asked, trying his best to ignore the fact that his chest would definitely be bruised into next Sunday after the day was done.

Luffy didn't look too happy about this. In fact, his entire demeanour practically deflated, a sigh accompanying the change.

"Hey, don't look so glum, Luffy! There'll be school tomorrow, so… wait, no-," before Marco could realize his folly at mentioning bringing Luffy to school as a possibility, Luffy had already perked back up, his sharp eyes peering down at him.

"Really? You mean it!?" Luffy said with a smile, and although it may have come off as a question, it certainly wasn't.

"Y-, yeah, sure, of course," Marco stammered, unable to answer honestly.

"Hey, that's great and all, but we really should get going?" Ace finally said, pointing to the car.

"Oh! Yes, let's!" Marco said, heading to the car without saying anything further to Luffy, who just smiled blissfully and went along with it. Marco grabbed shotgun, Ace got in front of the steering wheel, and Luffy… stared at them from outside the car, unsure what to do. Marco glanced at Ace, Ace rolled his eyes, Marco smiled wryly and opened up his door to step out.

"Luffy? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, uh, how do I get in this thing?..." Luffy asked, pointing to the side of the car as if it was some sort of alien spacecraft. Marco simply sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and stepped over on Luffy's side.

"Here, first you open this door," Marco opened the door, "and now you just sit down on the seat. And don't forget to put on the seatbelt."

Luffy sat down in the seat, silently awed by how comfortable it was, and glanced back up at Marco.

"Uh, what's a seatbelt?"

"...It's that strap over there. you put it over your chest and it protects you if we get in a crash," Marco explained, pointing to the strap beside the seat. Luffy looked it up and down, and then back at Marco.

"...Don't wanna."

"You-, you have to."

"I'd be fine even if you shot a cannon at me, I'm made of rubber!"

"Sure, you'd be fine, but of the cops caught us, it's our wallets that'd take a beating."

Luffy grumbled and pulled out the strap, but didn't much know what to do with it. It extended and all, and Luffy knew it was supposed to go over his chest, but beyond that, he had no idea.

"...You click it into that thing on your right side," Marco explained, and once Luffy got it fastened, he went back and got in his own seat, feeling about five years older. Without waiting for him to say anything, Ace got the ignition started, grinning at the strange sound Luffy made from behind him.

And so, they were off. In the back, Luffy was torn between being entranced by the weird machine he was riding in and looking out the window to catch glimpses of this strange new world he found himself in. In the end, he decided that staring out the window seemed to be his best bet. Strange beetle-like vehicles flew past, in the sky, giant birds rode past, in the distance, tall towers loomed.

But there was a silence. And although silence can at times be nice, an awkward silence was never nice.

"So, Luffy. Tell us more about this world you come from. How did you come to become the King of Pirates? Is that a respected position?" Marco asked from the front, turning around to face Luffy in the back.

"Hmm, well, the world is pretty normal, I guess? And I became the Pirate King by fighting lots of other pirates! I almost died a lot of times, but in the end, I won! Shishishishi!" Luffy said, not really going into detail about anything at all.

"Alright, listen up in the back," Ace said, not taking his eyes off of the road. "I don't really care what your life was back in your world, you're here now. I don't care what you think your relationship is to people you meet here, this is not your world! I'm not your brother, Marco isn't you pal, and your crewmates are just students! So, if you meet one of them, I don't want to see you freaking out or nothing!"

Luffy didn't really respond. He liked having Ace talking to him, but not when he was being this cold. Sure, Luffy had been used to Ace giving him the cold shoulder once upon a time, but that was long gone now. How was he just supposed to stop treating Ace like his brother, even he asked for it?...

"Oh, that's another thing, how come you say Ace is your brother? He doesn't have any biological relationship with the Luffy I know, so what's that all about?" Marco asked.

"Oh! Yeah, we met on Dawn island! Gramps brought me there to live with a bunch of mountain bandits, and Ace was being raised by them. We got off to a pretty rocky start at first, heh, you tried to kill me for quite a while there! But I survived, even when you tried to feed me to alligators!"

"A-, alligators?..."

"Yeah, but it was fine, and once I and Ace got to know each other, we hunted the alligators, so we're even! Oh, and Sabo was also there, do you know Sabo?"

"Yeah, I-, I know a Sabo," Ace replied hesitantly.

"I'm not going to ignore that alligator part. Did you seriously hunt alligators?" Marco asked.

"Yeah! They were huge! Not as huge as those banana gators I met on Alabasta though, those were truly huge!"

"...How huge?..."

"Well, I'd say about the size of a house? Ah, but don't worry, if we ever meet something like that, I could deal with it no problem! I'm much stronger than I was back then! Shishishishi!"

"Alright, Luffy, I'm going to be frank with you. What's the strongest thing you've ever defeated?" Marco asked, just wanting to get a good grasp of the kind of bullshit the world Luffy came from was all about. Luffy didn't even need to think about it. He knew the answer.

"...Teach. Marshall D. Teach. He was the last man to stand in my way. He had the power of two devil fruits, and the two strongest ones, at that," Luffy recalled grimly.

"...How strong was he?"

"I'm not sure. But-, he had the power of the previously strongest man in the world, Edward Newgate. And Ojisan could take out a whole army with a single hit. I almost wish I could fight him, just to see who'd come out on top," Luffy said, smiling only slightly. Ace knew an Ojisan. The way Luffy described him… Sometimes, Ace could swear it felt as if Ojisan could take out a city on his own. As for Teach… he knew him as well, but he wished he didn't.

"But, as I've said before, I'm the strongest man in the world now, so you don't have anything to worry about!" Luffy said, hoping his words brought some sort of solace to the two, but if anything, it only made it worse. Somehow, they'd gotten the strongest man from some crackpot universe where everyone was super-strong to just come on over as if that wouldn't do anything.

Ace parked the car by the grocery store and leaned back to look Luffy in the eye.

"Luffy, you… don't do anything strange, okay? Just follow me and Marco, and… things should go alright," Ace said.

But things wouldn't go alright.


	4. Chapter 4, Luffy kidnaps Robin even though it's illegal like seriously dude not cool cut it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy almost kills a cop, annoys Ace to no end, and meets Robin after too many years of thinking her dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooo, make sure to commend and stuff, yeah? I-,, I love seein' 'em. Gets me goin'. Yeah.

In fact, Luffy got into trouble before they even got inside the store itself.

Marco knew a Luffy, and he also knew that his beloved student had a knack for getting into trouble, but this was ridiculous. It seemed that meathead pirate couldn't do anything normal, not even just walking inside the store. Instead, he came to a stop just outside, his black eyes falling on a cop standing just outside, stereotypically enough dipping his doughnut in a cup of coffee.

"What's he doing?" Luffy asked, pointing at the somewhat overweight officer. "And what's he eating? Shishishi."

"That's an on-duty officer. He's taking a break, and you shouldn't bother him," Marco said, feeling the trouble stirring and trying to get Luffy inside the store. But Luffy, with his curiosity aroused, was not the kind of man to just give up on an adventure in the makings. Marco should have known this, considering how his student was, but he didn't.

"Whoa! Wait, officer of what?..." Luffy asked, and something in his voice made Marco fear what his reaction to the answer would be.

"Officer is just what we call a member of the police force, I don't actually know what rank he is," Marco said almost hesitantly. This didn't seem to help Luffy any, as he still looked about as confused as before.

"Didn't you have police on your world, dumbass?" Ace said, stepping forth to take part in the conversation. "If you're wondering, it's the people that keep criminals from just running around wherever they please."

Somehow, the fact that Luffy was the most wanted criminal of his world had slipped Ace's mind. It didn't seem that important. But Marco had made that connection, and along with the knowledge that Luffy had battled alligators as a kid and won, the darning look of horror and realization on his face made Ace semi-understand his folly.

Luffy's own realization about marine = cop = dude-over-there took a bit longer to manifest, but once it did, his eyes focused on Ace with a strange vigour.

Luffy normally wouldn't fear any marine, not even an Admiral, least of all a petty officer, but even so, the knowledge that his brother was next to him set off a protective need within him. He couldn't protect him before. But he'd protect him.

"Wait, Luffy!" Marco called out, putting a hand on Luffy's shoulder just as he was about to turn around to face the officer. The shoulder felt hard, rough, powerful. Ready. Luffy's gaze fell on Marco, confused, needing… hurt. "I know you're… a pirate and all that, but we really don't need to do anything rash!"

"But-, what if Ace-!?" Luffy asked, clearly straining himself not to pounce on the poor officer who had almost finished his doughnut.

"Hey, I'm not dead!" Ace said, finally having realized the situation. Sure, Ace wasn't on the best of terms with the cops, but even if they did catch him… "It's not like we have the death sentence here anyways!"

"I-," Luffy glanced over at the officer, who was sticking his empty coffee-cup in a bin, "-okay, I… I won't do anything."

"Good. Alright, let's get inside," Marco said, releasing his weak but warm grip on Luffy's shoulder. Anxiously, Luffy cast a glance over his shoulder at the officer, hopping into his car as if he hadn't just been two quick-witted men from being pounded into the curb. Before Ace and Marco actually went inside, they grabbed a large cart. The perfect size to sit in. Perfect.

"No, you're not-, stop that!" Ace said, forcing Luffy to stop trying to get into the cart by pulling at his coat. Very effective, Luffy got down immediately, as meek and apologetic as a puppy. Ace mentally noted this as Luffy's weak spot. Thankfully, he didn't recognize the straw hat as another one of Luffy's few weaknesses, as even though he was his brother (sort of) touching Luffy's treasure wasn't exactly forgivable. "Don't do anything weird, just stay close to me and Marco, alright?"

"Yessir!" Luffy replied, saluting his brother with a grin. It's not like he'd planned on leaving Ace alone. At all. Ever. He wasn't going to make such a fatal mistake again. So it was that Luffy trailed after the two, keeping one eye on his brother and another on all the interesting stuff all around him. It seemed to be a sort of marketplace, but everything was all wrapped up in colourful things. He couldn't understand what any of the writing said, but just the pictures made him drool.

He had honestly believed this would be a trip to go hunting. Sure, considering how weak Ace was he really shouldn't have had too high expectations for Earth, but if Luffy had learned one thing over the duration of his travels, it was to never underestimate someone, especially an entire world. That officer back there could very well have been as strong as an Admiral, and Luffy wouldn't have known beforehand.

The shopping itself seemed pretty simple. They went to one of several places with lots of things, picked out a few things, and moved on. It would've been dull if Luffy wasn't so interested in the various items all in a row. At times, Luffy would go so far as to pick out an especially interesting-looking thing, trot over to Marco and Ace and attempt to place it in the cart, but he was rejected every time. After just a few times, this left Luffy sulking, slowly pacing behind them, chin puffed up like a chipmunk. Thankfully, he had chosen not to allow his rubbery powers to puff them out beyond the human scope, so it didn't look too strange. What did look strange was a fully grown man wearing a red and gold pirate coat following two younger men like a lost puppy.

But, as always, the moment they came to the meat section, he lit up like a light.

"WHOA! What's all this?! What is this from?" Luffy said, erratically darting from one meat section to another, pointing at the various types of meats as if he'd never seen a steak before. Of course, he had, but he just sort of assumed that these came from unimaginably exotic animals, sea-kings he'd never seen, maybe even dragons!

"That's all just beef. Over there is pork, chicken, and the like," Ace said, picking out a few cheap slabs of meat. Out of his corner, he could see how Luffy only grew more and more excited with every meat he picked up. After just a little while, he returned to Ace with a 3-meter tall mountain of meats in his arms, many parts of the meat-aisle picked completely clean. Ace stared up at the mountain, and back at the excited face of Luffy peeking out from a small hole in it. "...No."

"Awwww, come on!" Luffy whined, his pout once more returning to his lip, like the dolphins to Venice. "A man's gotta eat a lot of meat!"

"Yeah, but if you eat that much, I'll be ruined before you can actually eat any of it!" Ace replied, sensibly.

"Hummm," Luffy said, his pout returning in full, and with a vengeance. Frown and all. It almost made Ace feel a little bad. But he was in the right, so it didn't much matter. "Okaayyy," Luffy finally said, and Ace couldn't even blink before all the meat was back in their places. Well, not exactly in their places, but back on the shelf. God that man was fast. Too fast.

"Good," Ace commented if only to assure Luffy that he did the right thing. At least the "King of Pirates" hadn't decided to just steal everything. Maybe he wasn't a pirate at all?... Then again, he had been about a minute from trying to beat up some officer, so he was probably more criminally inclined than he seemed. But not criminal enough to steal. A curious man. Perhaps he thought common thievery below himself?

While Ace thought about what his odd visitor may or may not do, Luffy himself had removed himself from the meat section, and went over to check on the toiletries section. Now, these were some odd products. Especially the liquids in the bottles. They felt weird and didn't smell any good. Luffy put the bleach back on the shelf and went to check on some other stuff, of course making sure that Ace never left his vision.

So it was that he found himself by a section filled with bundles of hard, yellow things in all kinds of shapes and sizes: pasta. Yes, very curious. Not the pasta itself, Luffy had eaten pasta before, but not hard pasta. And not in boxes either. Luffy removed a box of macaronis and evaluated it. Yes. Very interesting. But when he was about to put it back, he was someone, on the other side of the shelf. Just walking by. A young woman, with bright blue eyes and long, black hair. There was an air of intelligence about her, and air Luffy recognized the second he felt it.

Robin.

Nico Robin.

His breath hitched. Time stretched into the infinite. Her ebony hair twiddled behind her like excited bog-fairies. Icy-blue eyes stared off elsewhere. Luffy couldn't tell whether his pulse was flying high or sinking low. He was on the moon, he was in the stars, and he was in the rocks and the mountains. His eyes were dry and he felt like crying, and yet he smiled. His mouth smiled and his heart laughed.

And then she was gone, off to the left, out of sight. But the moment continued. His heart wouldn't calm down, his breathing wouldn't slow. His feet carried him to the end, as fast as he could, and he would've turned the corner, had he not noticed his brother, also moving out of sight. He had to make a choice. A choice he had already made once. Would he make the same choice?

He would, and he did. But only regretfully so. He had promised Ace to stick to them, sure, but he'd find them again. It's not like his sense of direction was the same as Zoro's, so he'd be fine.

He took a sharp turn, and there she was. But only for the moment. She soon took another turn to the right, but to the absolute speedster that Luffy was, her slow walk was nothing! Once she had fully turned the corner, he practically teleported right on over there, and much like a certain humanoid reindeer, he peeked out, catching yet another glimpse of her. She looked… young.

But the most striking detail was that she wasn't alone.

No, she was walking alongside an older woman, who looked almost identical to her, except for her pure white hair. She didn't seem too old, so her having white hair would normally be a bit strange, but Luffy was well used to strange hair colours by now, considering he used to sail with a green-haired swordsman.

Maybe he should just walk up and say hi? No, wait, when he just ran up on Ace he didn't take it too well. Sure, it worked out in the end, but could Luffy really approach Robin without hugging her?

...No, that wouldn't be possible. Sure, back on the blues he would have hugged just about anyone without anybody telling him he couldn't or even trying to stop him, but here and now, that wasn't an option. What was an option, however, was following Robin while he thought up a plan.

He could wait for her to get outside, and then try to talk to her? No, he still had to meet up with Ace and Marco before they left… So, that left Luffy with one option. Live up to his name. His title. His profession.

Nico Robin saw him a mile coming. She didn't meet his eyes, but she noticed him, on the other aisle. The way his eyes lit up when he saw her, like a dog meeting it's master after a long business trip. The way he glanced out at her from behind an aisle, a lover gazing at his crush. It was a bit strange, but he had every right to look at her, and she had every right to be looked at.

That is until, for but a moment, she felt not like a woman observed by a man, but instead like a rabbit, observed by a wolf. And then, she was swept up into a pair of strong arms, the world turned into a blur, a sense of inertia overtaking her. But before her body and mind could even react to the situation, it ended, leaving her standing in an abandoned aisle, dazed and confused, staring at a man of about forty. Somehow, he seemed even more panicked than she should have been.

His dark eyes carefully scanned the surroundings, carefully searching for anybody who might notice them. But nobody was around. Robin wasn't scared. She usually wasn't scared when she really should have been, and this was one of those situations. She had been kidnapped just now, hadn't she? Oh, yes, certainly. But… it wasn't just that. As strange as it might have seemed, this man didn't seem like a threat. Sure, he was old, but at the same time, his expression was young. His clothes, too, betrayed his mindset. Sure, the shorts and t-shirt were one thing, but that coat… glamorous. However, the strangest and most telling aspect of this man was, well…

He seemed familiar.

And he was.

"Look, I'm sure you won't believe this…"


	5. Chapter 5, Luffy successfully convinces a random girl he is a dimension-hopping pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy talks to Robin and then annoys Ace to death again

He was a large man, buff and burly and absolutely frantic. His eyes seemed to drink in her complexion with a fervour she'd never before seen. He wasn't holding her in place or anything. If she'd wanted to, she could probably have ran. Then again, he could probably catch her, large as he was. Regardless, although he wasn't holding her, the way his hands trembled betrayed his true wishes.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the Pirate King. But you wouldn't know that," he said, his voice deep and uncertain. Monkey D. Luffy. She knew that name well, didn't she? Yes, of course she did. How could she not?

But it was an odd name for this man to go by since he was obviously much older than the Luffy she knew. But even if he was much older, he was very similar in many ways. There was that same energy in both of them, although this man seemed more… experienced. A soldier compared to a child. The most telling similarity between the two was the straw hat. She really should have noticed it earlier, but it seemed to be the very same that Luffy had.

"-Are you from the future?" Robin asked, squishing her eyebrows together. It made sense. The bone structure was the same, and if Luffy did time travel, this is how he'd approach her. The idea that Luffy would mess with the natural flow of time to approach her specifically did flatter her quite a bit.

"Huh? No, that'd be stupid! I'm from an alternative reality!" Luffy said, somehow looking both confused and proud at the same time. That… also made sense? Somehow, if it was Luffy, Robin really wouldn't be surprised if he said he was from space. Then again, he had said he was the "Pirate King", so him being from a different universe made a bit more sense. As far as Robin knew, there had never been a Pirate Kingdom over which a Pirate King could rule. There had been a Pirate Republic, but that was beside the point.

Maybe she should count herself lucky to have been homeschooled? Nobody but her mother could have taught her such trivial facts, after all.

"I see. And, pray tell me, how do I know you there?" Robin asked. Considering Luffy had kidnapped her to speak to her one-on-one, he surely knew her quite well, there was no doubt about that. However, exactly how he knew her was still an unknown. An unknown she fully intended to explore.

His eyes grew sad.

Robin couldn't say she was a people-person, not when most of her life had been spent in isolation. But she could understand Luffy. Luffy she knew. He'd been her friend through thick-and-thin. Her greatest friend. This man, she understood.

"She… was one of my Nakama. Part of my crew. But, she… she died," Luffy said, his eyes trailing off into the distance, clearly not in this world anymore. Seeing him this way made her heart ache. Alternate world or not, older or not, he was still Luffy. She didn't like seeing him like this.

"Is that why you sought me out?" Robin asked, once more meeting his gaze. He seemed a bit confused.

"I didn't seek you out. Ace brought me to this weirdo place and I just kinda found you. Oh, shit, Ace!" Luffy said, suddenly turning panicked. "Oh, man, he's going to throw a fit! Robin, I'll be right back, I just gotta tell Ace I'm not gone or anything!"

And then, he turned into a blur, and just… disappeared. She couldn't even see him leave. Even more curious, there was no wind pressure from the sudden movement. This left Robin with two hypotheses. Either Luffy's mere existence was messing with physics, or he was a master or martial arts to such a degree that he could bend reality as the masters did. She sort of wanted to incline to the latter, but then again, Luffy was the kind of guy who would break the laws of physics if he could. Actually, any law was fair game to him.

The second she'd had that thought, Luffy reappeared as it teleporting back.

"He didn't say anything, but it might have been because I left before he could," Luffy said with a smile. Ace. Strange name. She couldn't recall Luffy knowing any Ace.

"Is this Ace character also from your world?"

"I-, well, there was an Ace in my world, but-,"

"It's alright. Now, I must ask, what is a Pirate King? What sort of kingdom do you govern over?" she asked, her eyes filled with lust for the new.

"Hnn. What? I'm, uhh… What? I don't govern anything! I'm free!" Luffy said with a surprising amount of conviction for someone who seemed so lost only seconds before.

"Then, is it just a title?"

"No! Being Pirate King is much more than that! It is to be the man with the most freedom in the world!" Luffy stated, crossing his arms defiantly.

Freedom. That was the key word here. Surmising that the title of "Pirate King" was somewhat of a unique title was an easy feat for Robin. And yet, the true meaning eluded her. If she wished to know what it truly meant, she supposed the best way to learn this would be through knowing what the title cost.

"And how were you crowned Pirate King?"

"I took it by force!"

"Like a true pirate, then?" she said with a very Robin-like giggle. Luffy smiled at the gesture, briefly brought out of his proud retelling.

"Yes. But it was a hard fight. Many sought the crown, many died in vain. Many I cherished were sacrificed. In the end, only I stood. I almost died right there and then, but… I persisted!" Luffy said, looking somewhere in between scarred-for-life and proud. Robin, who had never once seen this sight on a real person, was at a loss for words. But, once a few seconds had passed, she got it together. Somewhat.

"Was it worth it?" she asked, not really meaning anything by it. But when Luffy saw her, a person he considered closer than family, who had sacrificed herself for him, say those words…

His pride shattered.

Had it truly been worth it? He'd achieved his life-long dream, hadn't he? But the cost had been enormous. None of his teammates had fulfilled their dreams, remaining unsung verses on dead lips. The knowledge of this had gnawed at him, he knew it had. But he'd ignored it. For their sake! There was no returning for them, no fruit to eat that'd bring them back, no deal to make with the devil. If he didn't live out his wish, their deaths had been in vain.

"Yes." His voice shook, the vibrato of a dying chord. "It was."

At this point, Robin realized what she had said.

"Oh, goodness-, I, I'm sorry!" she said, clasping her hands over her mouth. "I didn't mean-,"

"No, it's alright, Robin. It had been worth it. I fought the world and I won. I carved my name in blood. Sure, I'm not there now, but, now that I'm here," he glanced warmly at her, "I can at least meet you again." If he hadn't been so sincere it hurt, it might have been a bit creepy. As it was, Robin couldn't help but smile.

"If you say so, Luffy. But, I have to ask… pirate this and pirate that, I could never consider you a criminal. Are you truly?"

"Yes! I've got quite the hefty bounty on me, shisihshishishi! I'm quite the criminal!" Luffy boasted.

"...Criminal how?" Robin wondered aloud, her thoughts turning a bit more nefarious. She'd been so caught up in talking to him that she'd forgotten all about how pirates were mostly known for looting, killing and pillaging. Not fun stuff. Considering that Luffy was no ordinary pirate either, but the King of all Pirates, he must be the Clopin Trouillefou of them, worse by a long shot.

"Criminal how?... Hmmm, I got my first bounty 'cuz I beat up a marine guy, but it was also 'cuz I beat up a bunch of other pirates. Come to think of it, I mostly just beat people up? Ah, but there was that time I punched this noble dude! Man, I never heard the end of that! Oh, but I have stolen a bunch of stuff. And I did declare war on the world government… is dethroning a kingdom a crime?"

"Well, yes." Robin was stunned. She didn't expect most anything, but even then, she was surprised. Assault aside, betraying the entire world, staging a coup d'etat, committing violence against the ruling order… these were no small crimes. Not receiving a high bounty for those sorts of crimes would put a government to shame! The government. The? "Is there only a single world government?"

"Yup. Is there supposed to be anything different?"

"Yes, there are several, in fact."

Luffy frowned.

"Sounds like a pain. Man, dragging down one ruling class was hard enough, a bunch of them… well, not my problem! Shishishi!" Luffy said, smiling as brightly as he always did. From what Robin could understand, not only had this man dethroned a kingdom, he had also somehow destabilized the entire government from the world he came from. In other words, he was a criminal, through and through.

Having him in this world was dangerous. Sure, he seemed harmless enough, he had no intention of doing too much here, but, still… he could. As far as she knew, he could move at speeds to quick to see, had single-handedly toppled kingdoms, and didn't seem to take anything too seriously.

But, this had gone on long enough as is, and although she knew getting more information him was technically more important than anything else she should be doing, she really didn't have time. But she did know a way to get him to find her again.

"There's a school in the centre of town, your counterpart goes there. I think you would like to meet him," she said with that relaxed smile that seemed to see the world as no one else did. Luffy lit up.

"Yes! I will!" Luffy beamed at her.

"Good. Now, could you please return me to my mother?" Robin asked. She knew very well that if Luffy met himself from a different world, he'd bring himself to her to show himself off. He'd been doing that all her life, bringing her cool seashells, strange insects and mysterious bones from the forest. It was an inevitability.

"Yessir!" Luffy said with a grin, and in the next moment, she stood next to her mother, as if nothing had happened.

Luffy himself returned to Ace and Marco's side.

"God-, fuck-, stop doing that!" Ace complained, about five seconds from both hitting Luffy and getting to the check-out. Sadly, both he and Luffy knew that his threats were as ineffective as they were true. Even if Ace hit him, it'd only bounce right on back. A waste of time, in other words. Luffy knew this, but was still conditioned enough to take his threat somewhat seriously.

"Shishishi, never!" That did not mean he respected him enough to actually do as he said. Instead, he took glee in actually being the stronger of the two, usurping the power Ace had over him in the past. Ace, in turn, grumbled unhappily at being stuck with such a rebellious person. At least he was honest.

Thankfully, Luffy didn't do anything too strange as they exited the grocery store. Sure, he did try to spark actual conversation with the cashier, but she was so dead inside she barely noticed it anyways. Marco didn't say much, and once they got Luffy back in the car and were well on their way home, Ace was starting to wonder if this was truly so bad. He really shouldn't have jinxed it.

"Whooooaaaa," Luffy oohed and awed from the back of the car, his face glued to the window. "Hey, hey, Ace, what's that thing? What's this thing?"

"Luffy, please, for the sake of god and my sanity, will you please shut up?" Ace groaned from the front seat, about five more minutes from deliberately crashing the car just to shut him up. Sadly, even if he did crash the car, it would do nothing to harm Luffy. Being impervious to all blunt damage seemed to have its pros.

"Mrr," Luffy grumbled at being told off, his mood instantly turning from excited to pouting. It was sort of amazing how quickly he could do that change.

Marco, meanwhile, did not know how to take it. He knew a Luffy, and now another one, and these were very similar. But, somehow, Ace seemed to be the first person who could actually get Luffy to shut up about something. The power he held over him seemed almost like a big brother over his little brother. Considering that they had met mere hours earlier, such a relationship forming was almost a miracle.

It was almost eerily similar to the relationship Luffy said they had back in his world. Marco did not comment on it, for fear of Ace getting angry at him as well.

Luffy pouted the rest of the way home.


	6. Chapter 5, loan sharking time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace turns out to be a loan-shark, Luffy comes along to shark the loans out of a guy, and shit goes down

As soon as they went inside the dull, grey house that Luffy didn't much like the look of, Ace turned right around to go back outside, only grabbing a coat.

"Working night again, are you?" Marco asked rhetorically, unpacking the groceries with no help from Luffy, since Luffy was much too busy shaking a soda can up and down. Maybe Marco should have stopped him by the point where he could no longer see the soda can due to how fast Luffy was shaking it, but seeing it explode in his face was just too satisfying to stop.

Ace nodded, his black eyes darting between Marco and his "brother". "Yeah, kind of don't have a choice. Got a guy to rough up. And no, I don't need-"

"Adventure!" Luffy exclaimed before Ace had time to even try to stop him, and, in regular Luffy-fashion, he was suddenly standing right beside Ace, causing the latter to jump. "I'm coming along!"

"No, you're not! And, dude, what did I say about just appearing like that?" Ace said, attempting to shove Luffy away only to fail miserably. As he does, Luffy simply grinned, showing off his teeth in an almost predatory manner. "Dude. Seriously. Just stay with Marco, he'll feed you as many eggs as you want!"

Luffy shook his head. "Nope, not staying. Shishihshi!"

By this point, Marco knew there was no way to stop him. The tales Luffy had told, as far-fetched and nonsensical as they seemed, painted him not only as the kind of guy who wouldn't take no for an answer, but also as the kind of guy who could use force to get his yes.

"-Ace, just-, just let him come, alright? One more guy to hold your back won't hurt, right?" Marco pleaded, giving Ace the good 'ol Dreamworks eyes. What Marco didn't tell Ace, however, was that Marco might have an idea why Luffy really really wanted to come along.

Adventure? Of course, but… Luffy had told them that Ace had died in a war. In his arms. That's not the kind of wound that heals.

Meeting his brother again… Marco wasn't surprised he was sticking to him like glue.

"-But! He might mess the whole thing up!" Ace said, scowling at the mere thought of his perfect track-record being broken by some immature dimension-hopper. Marco shook his head, his lush blonde hair bobbing with the movement.

"Luffy's old enough to be your dad, don't worry about it," Mark said, smiling a relaxed, comforting smile that he knew Ace wouldn't be able to say no to.

"Yeah, I can handle myself!" Luffy chirped, hopping from foot to foot in sheer excitement.

Ace shook his head, but it was clear this was more in defeat than in retaliation. "Okay, sure, whatever. But if I hear you say a single word to my coworker about anything, anything at all, you're dead meat!" Ace threatened, pointing a harsh finger at his inter-dimensional semi-brother.

"-Right, gotcha, no sound!" Luffy agreed, making a zipping movement over his lips before descending into silence. Ace nodded.

"Okay, right. We'll be back before midnight, keep some leftovers ready!" Ace told Marco before stomping out the door, followed closely by the (irritatingly) taller Luffy. As promised, Luffy kept his trap shut, proving to be capable of such a thing, at least under threat of murder. This time, Luffy got to sit in the front seat, and Ace although Ace didn't have his ear chattered off, he did have to spend the majority of the ride keeping Luffy from pressing buttons and ruining Marco's favourite settings.

As it turns out, Luffy's problem isn't being loud, but just being a hyperactive little shit. Not that he was little, but he almost felt too immature for how he looked.

If Ace was to describe Luffy in one word, it would be "grizzled". Like a veteran who had seen the abyss and cracked open a cold one with it. With how he described his life, about being the strongest man and having to fight hard for it, this look wouldn't be strange. But he was so… childish!

"How old are you even-?..." Ace asked absent-mindedly. He hadn't actually meant to say it out loud, but Luffy heard it anyways.

Luffy cupped his stubbled chin, poked his lower lip out, and gave off the impression of a stupid man trying to think. After a few seconds, a light-bulb seemed to have lit up his shrunken head, and he happily raised a few fingers. Three, to be exact.

Thirty, Ace assumed.

And then he raised five, thought for a moment, and raised two more. Right, so, thirty-seven? Luffy nodded to himself. Thirty-seven it is.

Since the house they were headed for was in the area, the suburbs and all, they didn't have to drive far. Maybe they should've walked? Heh, considering how stupidly fast Luffy can go, he could have just hopped up on his back and gotten carried here! No, on second thought, that might just have been the stupidest idea he'd ever had.

Ace shook his head and stepped out of the driver's seat before heading over to the other side of the car to let Luffy out before he did something weird and/or stupid.

Luffy did not like riding in the big metal box. It was fun and interesting the first time, but now it was just weird and uncomfortable. Sure, Franky would've loved it, but Luffy had never been able to get into the swing of big machines and small gadgets. As always, Luffy chose to leave the thinking to the smarties, and this new world was no different.

Then again, who knows what they were about to do?

Since Ace told him to be quiet, he hadn't been able to ask any fun or interesting questions, so right now, he was completely in the dark. Right now, Ace had just led them to a patch of grass underneath a tree in the middle of a place-with-houses, so Luffy really didn't know what was going on. As long as it included beating people up, Luffy knew he could be of help, but if that wasn't the case, all he could really do was stand around and guard Ace against any and all harm.

"Ace, over here! Sorry I'm late, the traffic-, who,, who's that?" someone said, and Luffy quickly spun around to face them. The man seemed to be about the same age as Ace, face covered in freckles and sea-weed like blonde hair. Luffy's face lit up in a bright smile and he had to physically keep himself from just shouting "Sabo!" right then and there.

Sabo seemed apprehensive.

"There you are! I was starting to worry, you little bi-,"

"No, wait, who is that?" Sabo interrupted, gesturing towards the grinning Luffy. Ace glanced between them, his smile faltering, fading away as soon as it had arrived.

"Uh, yeah, um, don't mind him. He just really wanted to come along, so just-, he won't be in the way, right?" Ace said, the last part clearly meant for Luffy. Sadly, Luffy wasn't looking or listening to Ace at the moment. No, he was staring at Sabo, starry-eyed and joyous.

"Um. Okay. I won't tell pops, but… who is he? Seriously, I just wanna know," Sabo said, relaxing only marginally.

Ace furrowed his brows, frowning slightly. He could tell the truth. Or, he could act far more sensibly, and… "Just an old friend. From, uh, high school. His name is… John?... Mute. He's totally mute. Seriously, let's just go."

Sabo pressed his lips thin. "Yeah, okay. The house is 626D, I've got the papers in my pocket. You're bad cop, I'm good cop, yeah?"

"Psh, dude, we've been doing the same roles for 11 years. Let's just get to it," Ace said, already slipping into his work-persona. Sabo chuckled and did the same, adjusting his light-blue collar ever so slightly, before realizing "John" was looking at him still. High School friend his ass.

With all the preparations done, they trailed down the sidewalk, keeping an eye out for 626D.

They eventually found it, and by that time, they had already shifted into formation, with Sabo on the left and Ace one the right, with the much taller Luffy staying back like a set-piece. He might've been somewhat intimidating if he wasn't wearing that goofy grin on his face, but even so, he was actually quite scary.

At least, so Sabo thought.

He should've prepared for this, he really should've. One day Ace was going to bring an assassin executioner and say the loaner just wasn't going to cough it up and have him put down as an example, and Sabo would be lucky if he didn't go down along with it. Jesus christ, how tall was that guy-? And those scars… Yeah, this guy has killed his fair share of people.

Only person Sabo knew who also had that many scars was pops, but even pops didn't have them in this deep.

Sabo knocked on the door, trying his damndest to keep a lax, friendly smile on his face. You are a witness of Jehovah, you are a witness of Jehovah, we are not here to beat the shit out of you and steal your cash…

The door squeaked open just a smidge, a single, wide eye peering out from behind a thin chain keeping the door locked.

"-Whadduya want-?..." the man, George Hemping, if Sabo remembered correctly, said.

"Ah, good evening Mr Hemping! We're with the White Whale Loans Inc. Company, and-,"

"I ain't owe you leeches nuthin'! Git outta here 'fore I call the coppers!" Mr Hemping squawked from the other side of the door, clearly preparing to just outright close the door on them, but Ace helpfully put a stop to it by sticking his door in the opening. "You-,"

"Mr Hemping, we urge you to reconsider. Your loan of, let's see," Sabo fished a folded piece of paper out of his inner pocket, scanning it as he unfolded it," 25 000 dollars remains unpaid, even after 4 months. We have not come to remind you of your unpaid debt, but to force you to pay it. No matter how."

Sabo could hear Mr Hemping gulp from inside the house, his one visible eye quickly darting between the three of them, from the small, round-faced Sabo, to the hardened Ace, to-,

"I-, I'll open the door, just,, just don't burst it in, Ah can't afford a new one-," Mr Hemping said. Sabe and Ace exchanged a glance, and Ace removed his foot from inside the door, letting Mr Hemping close it to unchain it. A second later, and the door slid open, revealing a tired-looking ashen man, his sunken eyes peering at the three men with uncertain certainty.

Sabo smiled. "Thank you, sir, where shall we sit?"

Mr Hemping didn't answer. He looked at Sabo, over at Ace, up at "John", back to Sabo, and something in him clicked. Somehow, Sabo could see how the man made a decision, a choice he probably really shouldn't have. Despair welling up, he did the one thing that wouldn't work.

He tried punching Ace.

Somehow, he'd made the choice that Sabo was too little to hit, but Luffy was too much, and so, he went for Ace.

A bad choice.

Probably the stupidest thing he could have done at the moment, bar trying to stab him, or, even worse, shoot him. Neither would work.

No, instead of his fist slamming into the 20-year old's freckled face, he found it sinking into the toned chest of the taller man, Luffy.

Mr Hemping looked up, his eyes widening in fear and realization.

Luffy stared back, his face void of emotion.

Sabo felt it before he saw Mr Hemping fall to the ground with a thud. It was like a pulse in the world, a powerful soundless shockwave that didn't move anything and didn't hurt and wasn't there. Except it was there.

And it had knocked Mr Hemping the fuck out.


	7. Chapter 6, Ace, Sabo and Luffy hide a body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace, Sabo and Luffy hide a body

"...Holy shit," Ace mumbled, his eyes trailing the arch Mr Hemping's body had made falling. Right in front of him stood Luffy, back turned to him. It was such a broad back. Right now, it felt larger and bigger than any back Ace had ever seen, Ojisan's back not counted.

Then Luffy turned his head.

Just a slight movement, a peek behind him, to look at Ace. He smiled. Luffy smiled like a puppy awaiting a treat for doing a trick. Except he looked more like a Doberman who had just bit the arm off someone and expected a "good boy!" for it nonetheless.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Sabo cried, falling on his knees beside the white-eyed currently foaming Mr Hempling. Sabo snapped his head around and looked up to Luffy, who was staring right back at him. "Is-,, is he dead?"

Ace furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, um, Luffy-,, is he-?" Ace asked Luffy, who turned around to face him fully. Somehow, as confused as Ace felt, Luffy seemed even more confused, probably since he didn't receive much of a compliment for… whatever it is he just did. Seeing such a stupid look on the man who just knocked a guy out by looking at him, Ace felt the anger flaring up within him. "Goddamnit-, Luffy, is he dead or not?!"

Luffy opened his mouth for a second, and then he closed it, making a zipping motion over it.

Oh god fucking damn it. Seriously? Right now? This man-,, he really had only come to this damned hellscape of a world to torment him, hadn't he?

"Okay, okay, I get it! 'You may talk,' is that what you wanted to hear?!" Ace said, scowling deeply. Like the complete opposite he seemed to be, Luffy went ahead and smiled, as if everything was alright, when it clearly was very, very un-alright.

Alwrong? Unimportant!

"His name's Luffy-? Why would you,,, either way, Mr Hemping is alive, he's just… knocked out. Which isn't good! What-,, Jo-, no, Luffy, what exactly did you do-?" Sabo asked, standing up to stand on the same level as Luffy and Ace. Since he had been spoken to, Luffy turned back around.

"Conqueror's Haki," Luffy said simply, and his voice matched just about how Sabo would have imagined it. Kind of? He had imagined it to be a bit gruffer considering that the man looked like a hobo in a red and gold cape/coat. Were they really not going to talk about that? Seriously?

"I shouldn't have to ask, but what in the heavens is Conqueror's Haki?" Sabo asked, and Ace took the moment to close the front door, since they hadn't gotten a chance to do so before since, well… Luffy did what he did. Whatever that was.

Luffy stared at him as if he asked what the moon was, before suddenly hitting his fist on his open palm as if he'd realized something.

"Ohhh, you guys don't have Haki 'round here?" Luffy asked as if everybody should know what "Haki" was.

Sabo gave Ace a pleading look, and Ace could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. Yeah, okay, he should've known it'd come to this. Let's just get it over with.

"He's from another world. Fuck-all knows how he got here. I'd tell you not to mind him, but… Yeah, okay, what the fuck is Haki?" Ace said, walking around Luffy to face him as well. Luffy thought for a moment, mulled the question over in his head, let his cogs turn, and finally came up with an answer.

"It's like a manifestation of your willpower. There are three kinds, Observation, Armament, and Conqueror's Haki. Observation lets you… Actually, how about I just show it?" Luffy said, and closed his eyes before either of them could ask any further questions. "Right, not just try and punch me. Anywhere."

What the fuck?

Ace looked at Sabo, but was met only with a pair of furrowed brows and a shrug.

Well, okay. To be completely honest, Ace had been feeling like hitting Luffy for a fair few hours now, the only thing stopping him was that, well… Luffy wasn't an easily punchable man. Not only did he not have that bitch-face that irritated Ace so much, but he was also made of rubber, which apparently wasn't very fun to hit.

But who cares? Bon voyage, rubberboy!

Ace launched his fist at the larger man, fully expecting it to bounce off and rebound just like before. For the sake of not being noticed, he went for Luffy's left thigh, since who the hell would hit someone else there?

That is, until his fist was caught. By Luffy.

Bastard must have cheated, he probably has his eyes right ope-, no, wait, they're closed. What the fuck-?...

Luffy opened his eyes, and grinned. "That's Observation Haki! It lets you see the wills or souls of others, among other things, even if you've got your eyes closed! When your level of Observation Haki is high enough, you can even see a little bit into the future, like I can."

And now he had future vision. What the fuck.

"-The second type is Armament. In the early levels, it just increases your defence a bit, but once you've got it trained well…" Luffy glanced down at his right arm, still holding Ace's balled-up fist, and with a single mental command, it was enveloped in a black sheen, "it becomes like this. Not even bullets and swords can get through it!"

"-Dude, Luffy, what the fuck," Ace commented, jerking his hand back and out of Luffy's grip.

"The third type, the one I used now, is the rarest one. It lets you enforce your will on others, and overpower theirs," Luffy explained briefly. "Back on my world, you had all three of them, Ace! Oh, and you were really good with Armament Haki, Sabo!"

"I-,, what? Ace, what's he saying?" Sabo asked, turning to Ace.

"Yeah, um, don't question it, but we exist in the world he came from. He thinks I'm his fucking brother. No idea how he knows you, though…" Ace replied, scratching his chin.

"Hey, Sabo was my brother, too!"

"I was WHAT?" Sabo exclaimed, recoiling further inside the house and almost stumbling on Mr Hemping's body in the process. They should probably do something about that…

"You're my brother. And so is Ace!" Luffy said, steadfast.

"Luffy, wait, hold up. We're brothers, I can accept that, but… Sabo and I are brothers here, that is true, but there's no 'you' part. I-, I seriously doubt we'd all be brothers in your world, too," Ace said to both Luffy and Sabo.

Luffy glanced at the both of them, suddenly turning confused. "Wait, so, you two are brothers, but I'm not?..."

Sabo sighed. "Well, yeah. We've lived in an orphanage most of our lives, so it's obvious we'd become brothers after a while. Heh, I still remember getting adopted only to make myself into such of a bother that they'd have to return me. Good times."

"Oh, boy, we did everything just to stay in the same place, didn't we? Maybe if we'd have let ourselves get adopted once and for all we could've, well, NOT have become loan-sharks, but…"

"Hey, I'm only in this to keep an eye on you, I'm not actually a loan shark!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Wait. Luffy wasn't saying anything. No, if anything, he had sunken into more silence than before. "...So, where am I-?..." he finally mumbled after almost a full minute of silence.

Sabo re-noticed the unconscious body on the floor, and realized they should probably do something about this before he wakes up. Luffy aside, making a client pass out just wasn't a good image for While Whale Insurance Co. Sure, they weren't exactly the cleanest business around, but a police-call could still leave them in prison, or worse, expelled!

"...I'm calling Ojisan," Sabo said, quickly fishing his phone out of his pocket. He had the number on speed-dial so he'd just need to press a single-,

"No, wait, hold up!" Ace suddenly interjected, his voice just a twinge more panicked than it should be. "Wait, wait. Um. I… Luffy, the fridge is over there, go entertain yourself, okay?"

With just the slightest hint of where to go and what to do, Luffy was off like a bloodhound, gone in a second, like a puff of smoke. In the meantime, Ace pulled Sabo off to the side, out of earshot from Luffy.

"Okay, listen. Luffy here? Fucking nutjob. Even worse? In the world he's from, he was… just-,, just the strongest man alive. And trust me, considering what I've heard, that's a fucking achievement. Why am I worried? Well, you and I existed there, and so did Ojisan. Good, right? No. You know what this guy said? I'll tell you what he fucking said, he said that not only was Ojisan the former strongest-man-alive, but he'd also like to have a go at him. See who'd win."

"...I don't-, what-?"

"What I'm trying to say is, Sabo, if this guy met Ojisan, he'd beat the shit out of him without even trying. With how sick he's been lately, we'd be lucky if he didn't just outright kill Ojisan. Seriously," Ace said sneaking glances at the furiously snacking Luffy who was clearly only paying attention to the fridge and the food it contained.

"...Ace. Tonight has been very, very strange, and Luffy seems to be a very, very strange man. But even if he seems like the kind of guy who'd beat up a guy for looking at him wrong, with the way he looks at you… I'd say as long as you tell him to not do anything, he would attack Ojisan outright. I think," Sabo replied sensibly.

He… he wasn't wrong, was he? So far, Luffy did just about anything Ace asked, so… it should work.

"Yeah, okay, Call Newgate, tell him the situation. Uh, without telling him exactly what happened, since…"

"Yeah, gotcha. Will do."

Sabo turned his phone back on and tapped the speed dial button, listening to the beeps before finally being connected to the big boss himself. "Good evening Ojisan, we have a situation…"

After a few minutes, Sabo turned his phone back off and went over to Mr Hemping's body, where Ace was squatting and relieving his boredom by poking the unconscious man. "He says we should put him on the couch and leave a note. Oh, and also to bring Luffy down to the office."

"Seriously? Well, okay. I'll take the feet-, no, wait… Hey, Luffy?"

Luffy quickly turned around from where he sat by the fridge, gorging himself on raw red cabbage. The things that man could eat…

"-Will you carry the body over to the couch?" Ace asked, kind of not expecting Luffy to actually do it. Luffy took one glance at the body, grimaced in disgust, but still stood up. And in the next second, both he and the body simply… disappeared. "-I'll never get used to that."

Sabo, on the other hand, was simply stunned silent, as a man witnessing people moving too fast to see would be. "Okay, that is really freaky, Jesus christ. I'll go write the note."

Luffy quickly reappeared, almost as fast as he had gone. Seeing Ace seemed to brighten his mood considerably, and he gave a happy smile just for the sake of it.

"-Right. Let's meet up in front of the office, alright? I'll bring Luffy. Oh, and, Luffy, just… whoever you see, don't attack, okay? Not even if a police officer pulls me over, don't do nothing, right?"

Luffy thought for a moment before nodding.

Right. Sure.


	8. Chapter 7, non-aggravated assault is okay if the victim is a meanie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I have no idea what I'm doing
> 
> uhhhh, comment and I'll be happy!

If Luffy was to be entirely honest, this was kind of really weird.

Riding in the metal beetle was one thing, the world was full of odd vehicles (although none of them had these annoying straps on them) and strange people, but… The closer he and Ace got to that big pile of boxes in the distance, the weirder this whole thing became. When some of those "cars", as Ace had called them, swooshed past super duper fast, Luffy could only barely keep himself from punching them purely on reflex.

Even so, just a quick glance at Ace, a disciplinary growl and a few stinging words were enough to calm him down.

Man, this was the best. If only because Ace was here.

Meeting Edward Newgate… Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world… Ojisan. It would be a thrill! Sure, it's not like he'd be able to fight him or anything since Ace told him not to, but… It was hard not to get just a bit thrilled. Just a little bit. Hehe.

...Something was up.

Luffy was definitely planning something. Something… mischievous… For an adult man, he really did come off more like an overgrown teenager. Mostly. The way he'd acted back in the house… Yeah, a teenager who went to war. That's Luffy.

The building of New York City quickly became overbearing, as they often were.

Ace had lived here all his life, but he couldn't say the place had ever been too warm to him. Then again, growing up as a thieving orphan didn't really make the city too prone to treat him any good. Ojisan had treated him good. Kept him warm when the orphanage wouldn't.

The drive to the office took a bit longer than Ace would've liked (traffic jams+hyperactive manchild is not a good combo), but he got there in the end. On the outskirts of Brooklyn, by the shadiest pier imaginable, truly living up to the White Whale namesake. Thatch had once told him Ojisan had a secret yacht or something that the company was named after, but Thatch was not a person to be trusted when it came to rumours.

"Okay, Luffy, I'd tell you to stay in the car, but… Ojisan wants to meet you, so, yeah," Ace said, unhooking Luffy's belt so he could get out.

"Shishishi, I want to meet him too!" Luffy said, hopping out of his seat. He was smiling and all, but his eyes were serious. Fuck me, he was taking this as a challenge, wasn't he? Yup, he sure was.

A few seconds after they parked, another car pulled up, a white classic one. Sabo's.

"Hey, sorry it took a while, the traffic was horrible!"

"I'm aware. Let's just-,, let's get this over with? It's like 22 or something," Ace said, already heading towards the unseeming little office that housed White Whale Inc. Luffy trailed after them, acting suspiciously passive. Maybe Sabo had noticed it as well, maybe he was just generally on-edge around the supernatural dimension-hopper, but he did seem quite wary.

As soon as they entered the door, things went wrong.

"'Sup Ace, got lost or something? Zeahahahaha!"

"No Teach, just had a situa-,"

Something whizzed past him. Something that went so fast, with such force that it left a burst of air in its wake, and by this point in the day, Ace knew exactly what, or rather, who it was. But he didn't even have time to curse.

It was him.

Marshall D. Teach. The fourth Yonko. The usurper of a throne that didn't belong to him. The man who betrayed his family, killed his brother and sent the other to rot in hell. The man Ace would hunt to the ends of the Earth. The man Ace couldn't forgive.

The man Luffy couldn't forgive.

He had acted before he knew it. Body moving as fast as he had trained himself to. Teach had just been standing out in the open. Holding a few papers, dressed so unseemingly that he might not have seemed like such a big threat if Luffy met him here for the first time. He was small, squat, and fat.

...Small.

Yes, as Luffy hoisted his body into the air, feeling his fist clench around the pathetic excuse of a man's throat, he couldn't help but notice how small Blackbeard was. Much less like a large, black hole, but more of a man. A human man. Without any powers, any Haki or any influence.

...Any blame…?

NO! No. Whether it be his world or another, Blackbeard was never void of sin. Luffy hated the memory, hated thinking about what had happened on Raftel, but… He had lost more than one Nakama to this despicable man. He should just crush his neck here and now, feel the bones grind to dust in his hand, extinguishing-,

"Luffy!"

…?

Luffy turned around.

Ace couldn't believe this. Any of this, any of this at all. Luffy was standing right there, out in the open, holding Teach by the next, his up in the air. If he ignored the panicked struggles of Teach, ignored how his friend was being choked to death, he could just barely see how Luffy was looking at him.

Like he was a rat.

A big, nasty, plague-infected rat that should be put down as quickly as possible.

That's how Luffy was looking at this man that Ace considered his brother.

"Luffy, please, stop!" Ace cried, running up to Luffy to try to maybe force him to let Teach down, but he was stopped in his tracks. He was stopped by a gaze. A mere gaze. Luffy had turned his dark, callous eyes from Teach, and onto him. They were… chilling. In those eyes, in that soul, there was so much seething, bubbling anger that Ace could do nothing but stop in his tracks, his breath hitching.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, but there was no compassion in that voice. It wasn't that he genuinely wondered what Ace found to be so wrong, but rather… "what is wrong about what I'm doing?"

"P-, please, Luffy, let Teach down, don't,, don't do this!" Ace pleaded, taking a few shaky, uneasy steps towards a man who had introduced himself as his "little brother".

Ace had to look up to meet Luffy's gaze. He was so large. He completely dwarfed both him and Teach.

"He…" Luffy's eyes darted from Ace to the pathetically struggling man in his hand, "he deserves this?"

"No-, no! He doesn't! Luffy, I don't care what Teach did over where you were, but,, this man didn't do anything!" Ace said, trying to bargain as best as he could. Luffy seemed… confused by what Ace was saying. As if the idea that Ace wouldn't be all for this public execution was entirely unthinkable.

Luffy bit his lip, face twisting in rage and poorly kept sorrow, "-He killed you!"

Ace stumbled back. His mind went blank.

"He killed your brother, some-,, Thatch! He killed Thatch, and-,, and then he killed Ojisan, and then he killed you, and then he killed my friends-,, and-," Luffy rambled off, a tear finally dropping from his conflicted eyes by the end of it. Ace could do nothing but stare up at him.

"...Let him down."

"-But!"

"Luffy, let him down." It was an order. An order from his brother. An order he couldn't refuse, not in a million years.

He dropped Teach.

The deeply despised man clattered to the floor, coughing and spluttering and gasping, grasping his quickly reddening throat frantically. A handprint was quickly forming around his slobbering neck, clear proof of exactly how strongly Luffy had held it; like an iron vice.

And then, Luffy fell to the ground as well, collapsing in on himself into a sitting position.

His eyes were vacant.

In a different time, a different place. Whatever sorrows he knew back then, it was evident they lingered on even now. Tears speckled his stubbled cheeks.

Ace walked up to him, standing taller than him for the first time in a good while.

"-Was it true? Did he really do all that?..." Ace asked, casting a glance on the man in question, who was currently writhing on the floor. Hardly a way any mass-murderer should look.

"...Yes… He began by killing Thatch. Then, he got you sent to Impel Down, and during the War of the Best, he took the chance and killed Ojisan, too. When I and my Nakama came to Raftel, he was there. I lost many in that battle…" Luffy mumbled. In his eyes, Ace could see a sadness, deeper than any sorrow he had ever seen before. And then… it was gone. Luffy looked up to Ace, a smile returning to his face as his eyes lit up joyously. "-But now, I'm here. And now-... I have you!"

...For some reason, Ace couldn't help but feel like what Luffy said was a bit, hrmm, ominous.

On a scale from reassuring to creepy, it was definitely on the creepy side.

"...Yeah, okay, uh-"

"Is everything alright?" Out of pretty much nowhere, Ojisan pretty much just… barged in. Wearing his classic white suit and cyan tie. Despite how terribly everything had gone just now, Ace had to admit that it was kind of funny seeing Ojisan trying to process the situation. He had Teach still coughing and spluttering on the floor, Luffy half-crying half-smiling, and Sabo casually panicking.

Was Ace the only one in here who was even slightly calm-?

Then again, he didn't feel very calm, not at all, actually, but he wasn't crying/laughing/dying, so he had that going for him. Which was nice.

"What in the world is going on in here?" Ojisan asked, and Ace could reply with nothing but a casual shrug.

"Um, don't call the police, Ojisan, it's really nothing like tha-,"

"Yeah su-, cOUgh cough gack-,, -re! Ojisan, don't listen to Ace, he brought that raving violent lunatic in here to kill me!" Teach interjected, painstakingly dragging himself up to stand on both feet. Somehow, this allowed Ojisan to actually understand the situation, what with who was who.

"Oh. Ohh. Ace, Teach, and… Luffy, was it? Come join me in my office," Ojisan said.

"Ojisan? What about me?" Sabo asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Ah, don't worry about it, you can scamper on home. Have a good evening, and send my regards to Dragon if you meet him."

Sabo nodded, and headed out the door, but not before waving goodbye to Ace.

Luffy sniffed.

"Come on, get up! Men don't cry!" Ace said, grabbing Luffy by his hand to drag him up. Sadly, he failed to do so, mostly because Luffy was way heavier than his dexterous inclination made him seem.

"Snf, yeah, okay," Luffy said, getting up to stand.

At this moment, Ace realized that Ojisan had finally gotten a proper rival in height. Never had Ace seen someone even close to how tall Ojisan was, but somehow, Luffy closed that gap, and it was a marvel to see. Luffy looked Ojisan up and down, Ojisan looked Luffy up and down, and then…

"...I thought you'd be taller," Luffy said, frowning.

"And I thought you'd be broader, gurarararara!" Ojisan replied, grinning.

Touché.

"How about you join White Whal-,"

"Nope, not happening! The Pirate King bows to no one!" Luffy said, crossing his arms in a most defiant manner, but he was smiling as well.

"Gurarara! You sure can express yourself, friend! Don't worry, we won't call the police on you,"

"-But!"

"Son, no buts. If you'd like revenge, you may try your hand at him. But this time, nobody will save you but yourself," Ojisan retorted, glaring Teach in the eye with a fatherly kind of gaze.

"Grrr…" Teach growled, but said nothing more, slipping off into some room to do anything but look at Luffy.

Ace noted how Luffy's eyes trailed after Teach with just as much disgust and hatred as before. But, he didn't act on it, and that's what's important.

"Ace, you'll try again with Mr Hemping some other day. Luffy?"

"Hm?"

"If we meet again, let us do so as friends, not as enemies."

Luffy grinned.

"Of course!"


End file.
